It always falls on a night where I have to work a B meet but it never fails to be the best night of draft television. The NFl Draft is good, but it doesn't even come close to the NBA Draft. And every year I usually end up listening to most of the first round on the radio because I'm working at some pool's swim meet. So, this year I settled down into my chaise lounge chair with the radio blaring, and little kids swimming freestyle and I came up with these observations...
I really wanted this Bornani guy from Italy to be extremely cocky during his post-selection interviews. Something along the lines of the interviewer going, "Andrea, how do u think you compare to Dirk?" And Andrea answering, "Dirk is a bum. He wasn't even picked top-10. I put Dirk to shame."
On the radio, they have Fred Carter, Doug Gottlieb, and Will Perdue (yeah the back-up center from those Bulls teams) doing the analysis of each pick. Here's my problem with this. If anyone watched NBA matchup on Sunday mornings back in the day or NBA 2Night way back you will remember Carter. He's the guy who always had that goofy ass smile on his face and when he was signing off the air he would point at the camera and then do a shooting motion with his hands. Well, the entire time he was talking I could not get the image out of my head. And then you've got Doug Gottlieb naysaying every god damn player. I know he played at Oklahoma State, but if he were in the gym at the Potomac Community Center, he wouldn't stand out from the rest of the scrawny, slick-shooting Jews.
I didn't think the Knicks could live up to the type of idiocy that people were predicting before the draft. I mean the way Isaiah has run that team the past few years is something that will be remembered in NBA lore. I didn't think things could get worse for them....but then they picked Renaldo Blackmon. Did you notice that all of his highlights were from the NIT Final against Michigan. Because that was the only game he put up 20 and 10 all year. Not to mention he's a 6'5 power forward. And i didn't really see anything reminiscent of Sir Charles in any of those clips. There was so much pressure on the KNicks to do something horrendous in the draft that I didn't think it was possible for them to live up to the "hype".
Michael Jordan said in an interview that he thought the fact that Adam Morrison cried after losing in the NCAA Tournament showed his true passion for the game, and that he cared. Well, that may be true Mike, but we all know if he played for the BUlls and fucking cried you would have taken him out to the parking lot and made his ass really cry.
Don't you think it's kind of awkward how everything the guys on ESPN are saying during the draft goes out to the entire Madison Square Garden Theater? It's like saying some girl is a slut when she's right around the corner.
Kevin Pittsnogle went undrafted and unless he does something miraculous in a summer league or something along those lines, we may never see the phenomenon that is the 'Snogle ever again. I'm gonna miss the redneck tattoos, toothy grin, and big ass ears.
Why the fuck does Stephen A. Smith talk so loudly even when he's saying absolutely nothing? I still don't understand the logic of replacing him with DAvid Aldridge a few years back. Aldridge was the Gammons of the NBA. And now he's relegated to sideline duty for TNT. Bring back DA!
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
My Job is Easy
So i was sitting in my basement watching this pretty cool documentary on John Denver, and I started to think about what a great life he led up until his tragic death. The man did what he loved (make music) , and did it with his best friend (his guitar). And then I began to think about how much I've been enjoying this summer so far due to the lack of stress involved with managing a pool. I am literally paid 12 dollars an hour to sit in the sun, get a nice tan, and give orders to people. Other than having to work all the time, I don't really do anything of consequence. The most stressful my job gets is when the health inspector comes to the pool and is technically allowed to shut us down is we violate the county code. But think about it, the health inspector shuts us down for a couple minutes. That just means people can't go in the pool, which makes them more inclined to leave the pool, which makes my job even easier.
And when that inspector did come the other day, my pool was fine, and I even got back at the snack bar people in the process. So, the other day when it was extremely hot out, I went into the snack bar to relax because they have air conditioning in there. But, as I sat there relaxing, this girl, who seriously looks like a donkey, and happens to run the cash register at the sncak bar, snaps at me to get out. I give her the glare because technically she isnt my boss. I don't say anything back and continue to sit on a stool directly in front of the AC. All the while, this jackass (get it) is glaring at me with an extremely cold stare. After I was sufficiently cooled off from the blistering heat I went back to work business as usual. Except deep inside I knew I had to get revenge for this slight on her part.
I got my perfect opportunity a few days later when this inspector made his monthly rounds. And while I took readings of the chlorine in the pool, I asked this inspector, "SO what kind of inspection does the snack bar have to go through?" And he answered with, "Well I normally do snack bars and pools at separate times, but why do you ask? Is there something fishy going on in there?" I shot back innocently, "No, not really." And after my pool passed inspection the inspector told me he was just going to check up on the snack bar and the donkey girl before he left. His surprise visit resulted in the snack bar closing for about a half hour and this girl getting bitched out.
And when that inspector did come the other day, my pool was fine, and I even got back at the snack bar people in the process. So, the other day when it was extremely hot out, I went into the snack bar to relax because they have air conditioning in there. But, as I sat there relaxing, this girl, who seriously looks like a donkey, and happens to run the cash register at the sncak bar, snaps at me to get out. I give her the glare because technically she isnt my boss. I don't say anything back and continue to sit on a stool directly in front of the AC. All the while, this jackass (get it) is glaring at me with an extremely cold stare. After I was sufficiently cooled off from the blistering heat I went back to work business as usual. Except deep inside I knew I had to get revenge for this slight on her part.
I got my perfect opportunity a few days later when this inspector made his monthly rounds. And while I took readings of the chlorine in the pool, I asked this inspector, "SO what kind of inspection does the snack bar have to go through?" And he answered with, "Well I normally do snack bars and pools at separate times, but why do you ask? Is there something fishy going on in there?" I shot back innocently, "No, not really." And after my pool passed inspection the inspector told me he was just going to check up on the snack bar and the donkey girl before he left. His surprise visit resulted in the snack bar closing for about a half hour and this girl getting bitched out.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Dwayne Wade
I saw this line from a reader's e mail when I was perusing through Bill Simmons' latest column. It had to do with the sometimes suspicious refereeing during the NBA Finals (which if you look down the blog a little bit you'll notice I called the Heat over the Mavs).
"I think I farted twice on the couch during this series -- and I was called for two fouls against Dwyane Wade"
"I think I farted twice on the couch during this series -- and I was called for two fouls against Dwyane Wade"
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Fight Night
Tonight, I watched the Jermain Taylor-Winky Wright fight on HBO. Definitely the best fight I've witnessed live. I've obviously seen some good stuff from back in the day, but never anything as it was going on. I was watching with Matt, and after the fight each of us had a different winner. I saw Taylor winning the fight, because even though he didn't necessarily land as many punches, the punches he landed did way more damage. Quality over quantity. WHile Matt had Wright as the winner. And he had a point as well. There were large portions of the fight where Winky dominated the pace with sharp, but short jabs and quick counter punching at Taylor. Overall, just a great show of sport at its core.
But, what really got me about this thing was the decision. Obviously, a bout so closely contested went the whole 12 rounds, so it went to the judges' scoreacrds. And it was ruled a tie by the judges. I will tell you that this fight deserved to have a winner. After laying it all out on the line like Taylor and Wright did, one man should have walked away as winner. And if you look at the judges scorecards, they saw the fight in the same way Matt and me did. Chuck Giampa scored it 115-113 in favor of Taylor, while Ray Hawkins scored it 115-113 in favor of Wright. The wild card was the third judge. HER name was Melvina Lathan. Please note that she is a female. She scored it 114-114. A draw. She couldn't make a decision. Shocker.
But, what really got me about this thing was the decision. Obviously, a bout so closely contested went the whole 12 rounds, so it went to the judges' scoreacrds. And it was ruled a tie by the judges. I will tell you that this fight deserved to have a winner. After laying it all out on the line like Taylor and Wright did, one man should have walked away as winner. And if you look at the judges scorecards, they saw the fight in the same way Matt and me did. Chuck Giampa scored it 115-113 in favor of Taylor, while Ray Hawkins scored it 115-113 in favor of Wright. The wild card was the third judge. HER name was Melvina Lathan. Please note that she is a female. She scored it 114-114. A draw. She couldn't make a decision. Shocker.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Weekend in Philly
It's been real busy for the last week, with work and an eventul visit to Philadelphia. Randy came back from his trip around the world and decided to have party to celebrate. So naturally, I decided to go up for the weekend.
The weekend got off to a good start on FRiday night, when we went to this Italian place in the Italian Market part of Philly. We walked in, and it looked like a hole in the wall. But as I passed by other people eating the food looked legit. Later that night, Randy told us a story about his escapades in Amsterdam. It was definitely something I would imagine one George Gopoaian doing if he ever graced the great city in the Netherlands. And that is meant as a compliment.
Other higlights include:
1) Rob realizing that Providence is not in fact a major city, but is actually only a half-step higher than Grand Rapids on the city scale.
2) Rob realizing that Philly has a lot of black people
3) The Rios making an appearance at 6pm
4) Paul imitating Randy's Dad to try and get the Rios to let us in a room
5) Pot with Randy's Mom/Randy's Mom's friend
6)Making fun of Matt Walsh for wearing socks with sandals (what a weirdo)
7) Once again witnessing that because Rob has been sharpied so many times in his life, he has become immune to all markers, permanent or not.
Definitely worth the visit and it was good to see Randy again. Hopefully I won't wait forever to write again.
The weekend got off to a good start on FRiday night, when we went to this Italian place in the Italian Market part of Philly. We walked in, and it looked like a hole in the wall. But as I passed by other people eating the food looked legit. Later that night, Randy told us a story about his escapades in Amsterdam. It was definitely something I would imagine one George Gopoaian doing if he ever graced the great city in the Netherlands. And that is meant as a compliment.
Other higlights include:
1) Rob realizing that Providence is not in fact a major city, but is actually only a half-step higher than Grand Rapids on the city scale.
2) Rob realizing that Philly has a lot of black people
3) The Rios making an appearance at 6pm
4) Paul imitating Randy's Dad to try and get the Rios to let us in a room
5) Pot with Randy's Mom/Randy's Mom's friend
6)Making fun of Matt Walsh for wearing socks with sandals (what a weirdo)
7) Once again witnessing that because Rob has been sharpied so many times in his life, he has become immune to all markers, permanent or not.
Definitely worth the visit and it was good to see Randy again. Hopefully I won't wait forever to write again.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Hockey is Awesome
After last night's instant classic game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, I was reading all the coverage about Dwayne Roloson's season-ending knee injury. It's too bad that the Oilers are going to have to go the rest of the series without Rolie. Hopefully they can overcome this adversity. And anyone who says that this ruins the series is dead wrong. Because if there's one thing I've learned about hockey in the past year, it is that the unexpected happens...a lot. Who would have ever thought an eight seed like Edmonton would be in the finals in the first place. I'm not even mentioning the amount of injuries the Hurricanes have had to their defense, as well as losing their top goal-scorer in Erik Cole.
But, as I sat and watched the Hurricanes claw their way back in the third period while sitting in my basement with Matt, I made one of my first ever correct predictions when it comes to hockey. When Carolina got their fourth goal to take a 4-3 lead, I turned to Matt and said flat out, "Ales (Hemsky) is gonna score a goal and send this into OT,". And, lo and behold, my prediction was correct, except for the OT part. When Ales scored the goal, it hit me how much I love the game, and will forever be a devoted fan. And it's a weird kind of devotion. The other day Jeremy asked me if I was gonna be a die-hard Caps fan like he is next season. And my answer to him was probably if they are a playoff team (i.e good). But as I thought more and more about it I started to understand that I will never have a passion for the Caps like I do with the Redskins. I'm more of just a hockey fan, in general. I've started latching onto players that I like and rooting for them. Ales Hemsky (because of fantasy hockey) , Sidney Crosby (because I talked to him for 20 minutes), Daniel Briere (because of Graham), and Ovechkin (partly because of Jeremy and partly because he is so damn good). And I'm sure once some of these guys in college hockey that I covered this season get to the NHL, I will follow them as well.
The weird thing is that coming into this year I would have never known that some of my favorite moments would be hockey-related. Some of the higlights of my entire year include:
1. The BC-Michigan hockey game at Yost - It was the first time I ever got goosebumps at a sporting event. That's how intense the atmosphere was.
2. Holy Cross defeating Minnesota in Grand Forks - The coolness factor of being in the nicest arena I've ever come upon only added to the fact that I got to witness, in person, the greatest college hockey upset of all-time.
3. Michigan vs. Ferris State Game 2 of CCHA Playoffs- The only other time, all season, that Yost came close to duplicating the BC game atmosphere
4. Game 3 Edmonton vs. Detroit in Krauss' room- This game was on the heels of the Oilers beating Detroit at the Joe in Game 2 and I wasn't sure if they were for real. Not to mention the game was in Western Canada and went to overtime, so it ended real late. And Edmonton won.
5. Game 1 Buffalo vs. Philly- This game was an epic that went to double OT, and was the game that really got me into the Stanley Cup playoffs. The action was up-and-down, with numerous scoring chances for both teams. It also featured, what I think is the best hit of the playoffs so far, when Brian Campbell of the Sabres absolutely demolished RJ UMberger.
Well, that was a good hockey rant.
But, as I sat and watched the Hurricanes claw their way back in the third period while sitting in my basement with Matt, I made one of my first ever correct predictions when it comes to hockey. When Carolina got their fourth goal to take a 4-3 lead, I turned to Matt and said flat out, "Ales (Hemsky) is gonna score a goal and send this into OT,". And, lo and behold, my prediction was correct, except for the OT part. When Ales scored the goal, it hit me how much I love the game, and will forever be a devoted fan. And it's a weird kind of devotion. The other day Jeremy asked me if I was gonna be a die-hard Caps fan like he is next season. And my answer to him was probably if they are a playoff team (i.e good). But as I thought more and more about it I started to understand that I will never have a passion for the Caps like I do with the Redskins. I'm more of just a hockey fan, in general. I've started latching onto players that I like and rooting for them. Ales Hemsky (because of fantasy hockey) , Sidney Crosby (because I talked to him for 20 minutes), Daniel Briere (because of Graham), and Ovechkin (partly because of Jeremy and partly because he is so damn good). And I'm sure once some of these guys in college hockey that I covered this season get to the NHL, I will follow them as well.
The weird thing is that coming into this year I would have never known that some of my favorite moments would be hockey-related. Some of the higlights of my entire year include:
1. The BC-Michigan hockey game at Yost - It was the first time I ever got goosebumps at a sporting event. That's how intense the atmosphere was.
2. Holy Cross defeating Minnesota in Grand Forks - The coolness factor of being in the nicest arena I've ever come upon only added to the fact that I got to witness, in person, the greatest college hockey upset of all-time.
3. Michigan vs. Ferris State Game 2 of CCHA Playoffs- The only other time, all season, that Yost came close to duplicating the BC game atmosphere
4. Game 3 Edmonton vs. Detroit in Krauss' room- This game was on the heels of the Oilers beating Detroit at the Joe in Game 2 and I wasn't sure if they were for real. Not to mention the game was in Western Canada and went to overtime, so it ended real late. And Edmonton won.
5. Game 1 Buffalo vs. Philly- This game was an epic that went to double OT, and was the game that really got me into the Stanley Cup playoffs. The action was up-and-down, with numerous scoring chances for both teams. It also featured, what I think is the best hit of the playoffs so far, when Brian Campbell of the Sabres absolutely demolished RJ UMberger.
Well, that was a good hockey rant.
Monday, June 05, 2006
HBO Sunday Nights
Since I left for college, I had been unable to keep track of certain show on television for an entire season. With the inconsistent scheduling of school, and nightly stuff it was next to impossible to watch a show and not miss a single week. But, there is still a few shows that I have to watch every week and I continue to do so to this day. And they are all on HBO. Entourage, Big Love, Sopranos. Three of my all-time favorite shows. My Sunday nights are set in stone these days. Big Love just finished up tonight. I was a little disappointed with the finale, but it did set up for an interesting second season. And the much-anticipated Entourage premiere comes next Sunday. I have a weird feeling that season number three will be unable to live up to the hype that season two deservedly gave it. But, who knows? That's what is so great about HBO.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Who do you root for?
So, for the past several weeks, as the NHL playoffs have progressed, I have caught myself becoming a Buffalo Sabres fan. I root for them because of Graham's overwhelming passion for the team. I figure that if they win, Graham will be a happier person. But, when I explained this to my friends at home, they took a totally different approach. They said that you have to root for the opposing teams of your friends, unless you both have a strong passion for the same team. So, according to them, I should have technically been a Hurricanes and Senators fan the last few weeks. It is similar to the way in which they used to torment me by cheering for whatever team was playing the Redskins. So my question is, who do you root for? Although, it is fun to antagonize your good friends, it's also a great feeling for them when their team wins. Personally, I think you have to take it on a case by case basis. For instance, Krauss has shown his love for the Tigers as of late, but this spring you will definitely see me cheering for whatever team the Tigers happen to be facing on any given night. This whole thing is an interesting dilemma that I don't think will ever be solved.
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