Random Observations and a Crush of the Day

Hey everyone, hope you’re doing will in your life. I’m doing well. My professional life is keeping me very occupied but its been fine. As long as I have my alone times and am able to relax and reflect like right now, it is all good in my world. Lets hit on some Random Observations.

First, to that anonymous person who laughed at me for looking like Al Roker, if I run into you in a dark alley, I will take you out with an omoplata (look it up if you don’t know) and then end it with some ground and pound, old-school style.

Actually, I’m not mad at that. However, don’t leave anonymous posts. At least make up a creative code name that you and your buddies will only get.

Music to listen to: Genesis with Abacab


I know that I keep putting Yes and Genesis songs on this blog like I’m a 50 year old man and I know that half of these songs were done before I was even born, but they speak to me and relax me. Hope they do the same for you.

-Crush of the Day: Eliza Dushku

She’s an underrated hottie for several years now. I’ve been meaning to see her new show Dollhouse but it comes on every Friday night and that’s a bad time for me with baseball season. I remember her most from Buffy the Vampire Slayer like most in my generation but she was also good in Bring it On and many other projects. She fits my requirements for looks, age and other things. Respect to her. She might crack my top-five bench, speaking of which…

-I know that all of you are waiting for my updated top-five and it will be done within the next few weeks. But I want this to be interactive, so I’m willing to take suggestions from each of you about who I should include. I’m always open to suggestions. I will say this though, the Peoples’ Champion wants me to include Jessica Simpson and Minka Kelly. There is no chance that Jessica will ever make the list. She has the looks but the other stuff will not even come close. Minka is cute but she has to do more work.

-I’ve enjoyed watching all of the conference tournaments for men’s basketball the past week and a half. Its always enjoyable to sit in the office and see everyone playing. However, one thing that has been bugging me, actually two things.

1) I seriously dislike having these tournaments in domes. All of these arenas look half empty and it takes away from the atmosphere. I was watching the Georgia Tech/Clemson game this afternoon and it sounded like no one was there. Even watching Arkansas and Florida at this moment, two teams with strong fan bases, the arena atmosphere seems bland. The Big East, Big 12, Pac-10 and even the Big 10 do it properly among the big conferences with the proper type of arena.

2) Can we just pick one location for each tournament. Here’s where I would have the tournament every year from the major conferences and some other ones as well that I know how they operate.

Big East: New York City at Madison Square Garden. Perfect city, perfect arena, destination spot for all of the fans and media members. I’m glad that they haven’t been tempted to move this thing to Boston when Boston College was in the conference or Philadelphia.

SEC: Atlanta at Phillips Arena. Why the heck is the tournament in Tampa, Fla. this year in a dome. What a joke. The football championship is already in Atlanta, everyone likes to go there, easy to get to, etc. It’s the unofficial center of the SEC and they keep moving it to Nashville and Tampa and that’s just not going to work.

ACC: Greensboro, N.C. I was talking with the Sager and Mr. McMahon today about this because they support ACC schools. I told them that I think that the reason that they don’t have it in Greensboro every year is to make it seem like the conference isn’t North Carolina-centric. Not the school, the entire state. However, it is what it is, especially when it comes to basketball. That tournament is all about playing that championship game on Sunday afternoon at the Greensboro Arena. I still remember seeing Wake Forest make that run to win the tournament and see Randolph Childress carry that team to the title. I’m not even a fan of that school and I still remember that. You’re not going to get that at the Georgia Dome.

Big 10: Conseco Fieldhouse in Indy. They have it right.

Pac-10: Staples Arena in LA. Perfect.

Big 12: It’s a tie between the Ford Center in Oklahoma City where this year’s tournament is being held and Kansas City. Both locations are solid.

Mountain West: Its always in Vegas, keep it that way.

Atlantic Sun: Nashville, Tenn. At the Curb Event Center (yes, I know that’s a cheap pop but its true).

Southern Conference: Charleston, S.C. Why was this year’s tournament held in Chattanooga, Tenn. Someone needs to explain that one to me. Charleston is a destination spot for everyone to come to and it just works.

Atlantic 10: Atlantic City, N.J. Love it.

MAAC: Love that its in Albany, N.Y. every year. For my southern readers and I think most of you are, the MAAC is like the Atlantic Sun or OVC of the Northeast. All of the schools are similar in size and even religious affiliations. My school of choice was Iona College and even St. Peter’s because of my high school Latin teacher. Yes, I studied Latin in school.

America East, NEC, Patriot and some others: I like that the championship game is held at the arena of the higher seed. It would hurt the economics to hold an entire tournament in a neutral site for these small conferences. Furthermore, it looks cool on TV to see those games and it must be a blast to attend.

Ivy League: And finally, the only conference I think that doesn’t have a conference tournament and I get that and respect it. I like to reward the regular season as well. I don’t take as much stock into the conference tournaments as some others may.

I don’t think that an average team can win a game or two in the tourney and all of a sudden they’re NCAA Tournament worthy. I also don’t think that a really good team should be penalized for one loss. For this year, I don’t think that Pittsburgh, Connecticut (if they lose, which they are as I’m typing this), Oklahoma, Kansas and even when North Carolina plays tomorrow should have their seeds dropped significantly by losing the first game of their conference tournaments. Their body of work in the regular season shows how good they are.

Can’t wait to do my do’s and don’ts for filling out your NCAA bracket next week.

-Just watched an episode of ER and it reminded me of how good of a show that was when it was in its peak. Its actually not a bad show right now. When it was the best show on television for a good five-six year run, it was a pleasure to watch. I’ll do my ode to it when its over in a month. Speaking of tonight’s episode…

-Not to give it away, but the episode was about a brain dead teenage kid and his grandmother (played by the awesome Susan Sarandon) having do decide if she was going to let him die and donate his body organs. Well, she does (crap, that gave it away), and it was sad and all of that stuff.

It made me think about this. When I die and trust me, that day is coming, I want all of my body parts to be used for transplants. What good is my heart going to be in the grave. Give away my eyes, bones, limbs, tendons, kidneys, liver, lungs, brain, give it all away. I’d want to help someone else live life and its also creepy for my liver to be in someone else and that’s cool.

-Just saw Dumb and Dumber the other day and it still holds up. Funniest movie of the 1990’s? Discuss.

-I’ve finally watched all of the episodes of Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory on MTV and while Rob and Big was the buddy show of this generation, Fantasy Factory is pretty darn funny as well. I haven’t laughed out loud so much in a long time . Love it.

-OK, that’s it for now. This wasn’t supposed to be as long as it was but when I start writing, I just keep going. Talk to y’all later.

Shows that Used to be the Business II

Its time for the second edition of Shows That Used to be the Business. I present to you…The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

First Memory: I remember waiting for Monday Night Football one night and flipping the channels and seeing Will Smith acting on a show. I wasn’t a huge fan of his music but I was aware of his work. Plus, I was nine at the time and very impressionable. I decided to give the show a chance and it became a talking point of my generation that I could talk with all my friends about. Good times!

Favorite Character (Main): Its easy to go with Will on this one because he was one of the coolest TV characters ever. The guy had charisma, was funny, talented, apparently good looking for the ladies even though I thought he always looked goofy.

I could place a vote for Carlton because I was so much like that dude, it wasn’t a joke. I used to wear the sweaters, like that chessy music, had no success with the ladies, had cooler cousins, the whole deal. I was even called Carlton back in the day because of the “proper” way that I talked. I have to go with him.

Wait, props should go to Uncle Phil as well. I actually found more enjoyment from him than any of the other characters. In the end, I think I’ll go with Carlton.

Favorite Character (Secondary): This is a tough one to distinguish. Do you consider someone like Jeffery a secondary character even though he was in every episode or is someone like Jazz fit this category. Or does anyone outside of the Banks family considered secondary?

If we’re going to go with Geoffery (yes, I had to look it up on the Wiki to get the proper spelling), that’s fine. He had so many one liners about Uncle Phil’s weight, I would look forward to each and every one of them. He always brought something to the table. Plus, his real name is Joseph Marcell. That’s an awesome last name.

However, I never really considered G a secondary guy, so we’ll go with Jazz.

On a side note, credit has to go Will Smith for showing loyalty to his boy and getting him on the show. Will could have turned his back on him and told him to kick rocks when he started acting. However, he didn’t and we were rewarded with Jazz. Everytime he got thrown out of the house was funny. Tremendous stuff.

Also, props to Cornflake. If you don’t know who that is, look it up, he was tremendous. Also, Will and Carlton’s high school basketball coach was funny as well. “Pass it to Will” became a running joke among my friends on our basketball team.

Least Favorite Character (Main): Aunt Vivian never rubbed me the right way, both actresses. I didn’t like her character at all honestly. However, she did show faith in the children and let them live their lives. But that’s even too hard on her.

The best part of the show was that there wasn’t a weak link in the cast. Everyone had their moments to shine.

Least Favorite Character (Secondary): Once again, tough choices. I will say that I didn’t like the rest of the Banks family besides the main characters. Whenever an aunt would visit, I wasn’t down with that. The only exception may have been Will’s grandmother.

Eye Candy Factor: This was a strong, strong category for this show. Let me tell you this, when the show was on from the ages 9-14 for me, lets just say that I began to acknowledge things in the opposite sex.

First, we had Ashley. I had a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE crush on her. It wasn’t even funny. I wanted to date her so badly. She was around my age so when she was going through things like starting to date, learning about sex, going to a different high school then she wanted, the whole deal. When Ashley dropped of the private high school to go to a public one, I had those same feelings at my private school. This made her even more attractive to me. She was attainable. I will always have a place in my heart for Tatyana Ali.

However, lets not forget Hilary. She was FINE on that show. Only now watching the repeats do I notice how good looking she was. I was in my Ashley daze but didn’t even acknowledge Hilary. Karyn Parsons can still get it any day of the week to this day.

We also had Tyra Banks, Nia Long, Lela Rochon, Vivica Fox, Robin Givens, Naomi Campbell, Stacey Dash and many other women make appearances on that show. Will’s dates alone were worth watching the show.

I guess for the ladies, we had Will but I thought dude looked goofy so I don’t know. You ladies readers of this blog are going to have to help me out on this one.

Theme song out of five stars: 5 out of 5. It covered everything that you want. It told the concept of the show, you got to see the humor and message of the show. Plus, Will does the song himself. You can’t mess with that.

If you don’t believe me, its below:




Dude, I tried to do that hook shot that missed in my school yard. I even tried that move when Will does that skip before he goes to the front door. Come on, I know that you tried it too.

Of course, I knew every word to the song, that goes without saying.

Favorite Moments:

-Anytime Will used a pickup line. He was the one to teach me that if I could rearrange the alphabet, can put you and I together.

-Ashley learning to play the drums.

-When Ice Trey visits and falls in love with Hilary. Props to the Don Cheadle cameo.

-When Geoffrey poses as the poet at Bel-Air Academy.

-The whole Kiss My Butler episode, when Naomi Campbell guest stars.

-When we learn Uncle Phil is a pool hustler

-When Carlton spends a few days in Compton.

-The episode with Queen Latifah

-When Will get stuck in the earthquake with Tisha Campbell

-When Bel Biv Devoe tries to shoot their music video at the Banks’ house. Amazingly funny episode.

-When Will battles Allen Payne from Malibu Prep for the Georgetown scholarship.

-The game show episode, you know which one I’m talking about.

-When Will and Carlton become strippers.

-When Will comes back with braids in his hair and wearing clothing that makes him look like a prisoner. Good message in that one.

-When Bel Air Prep goes coed and Ashley looks amazing. She had my heart at that moment.

-When Carlton almost gets married to his ex-girlfriend because she’s pregnant for us to learn that he’s a virgin. Been there. The virgin part, not the knocking up an ex-girlfriend.

-Will and Carlton going camping. Enough said.

-When Carlton and Will trick Geoffery into thinking that he won the lottery.

-When Carlton gets addicted to Will’s pills.

-When Will graduates and has to sing with the little kids to earn his diploma.

-When Carlton finally loses his virginity. I think many of us out there were watching this and were applauding. I know that I was.

-When Will and Carlton try to join the fraternity.

-When Ashley tries to become a musician.

-When Will poses as Ashley’s father to that fine teacher. She was smoking.

Episode archs that stick out:

-Will’s father returning to the picture. I had and still have father issues so when Will’s dad came back into town and was promising to do special things with him, I was relating to that stuff. When Will’s father leaves to go trucking and leaves Will behind, that was emotional. When Uncle Phil has to tell Will about it, I was crying the first time I saw that episode. Even now, if I see it on repeat, its emotional.

-When Will got shot. Another emotional episode. I liked how the show would have serious elements to it to go along with the humor. You really don’t see that much anymore. When Carlton goes into Will’s hospital room and shows him the gun, wow. When Will takes the gun from Carlton and starts crying, I was right there with them.

-When Trevor, Hilary’s fiancé died. The reaction of everyone looking at the TV when Trevor had his bungee cord accident, priceless.

-Ashley asking Will about sex. I saw this episode a few days ago and inspired this entire post. Here you had Will, ladies man, being asked by his little cousin who he loves dearly to talk about sex. Good message. Of course this is a parallel to something I’m doing in my life with my younger family members, including a niece. That show was on the mark.

Least favorite moments: The whole final season and a half I was not liking the show as much. Several moments stick out.

1) The changing of Aunt Viv. Didn’t like it but the original actress wanted to leave and the character was important to the show.
2) Will getting engaged. Look, I love Nia Long, but this didn’t work for me.


Non-realistic/WTF moments: I think that the show was pretty realistic and didn’t have some random moments where I was confused.

Actually, let me take that back. Besides us having to believe another woman as Aunt Viv, they age the young kid like five years over one summer. Who green lit that one?

Level of personal obsession: I’ve mentioned it all above. I was hooked on this one.

Cultural impact: From the music, clothing, dancing, greetings, this show hit a nerve for all cultures and races. Everyone could relate to the show.

Would this show work in 2009: That’s a tough one. I think that the issues are relevant, but there has been such a crossover of races and cultures into the rich, “Bel Air” culture. I’m not saying that Black people are all over there but its not as taboo to see rich Black people in our lives. I think that the show did send a message that a lot of us are the same no matter what our backgrounds are.

That’s all. Hope you liked this. I leave you with one of my favorite moments ever from the show.

Reflections on a Monday

Hey everyone, its finally time to start blogging again! I had some computer troubles and hopefuly they’re resolved. Since I didn’t do a Reflections on Sunday and I always say that I won’t miss a Reflections, here are my well…Reflections, Monday edition:

-Spent the weekend in Spartanburg, S.C. for some college baseball. Nice stadium, beautiful weather and the team that I cover won two out of three games, so good times all around.

There was an older gentleman at the games and he was one of the most annoying hecklers to the umpires that I’ve ever heard. Every single call was met with a complaint. At first I thought that it was funny but then it got extremely annoying and took away from enjoying the game. I asked people around there who he was and they just said it was an old man who showed up to the games. He wasn’t cursing or anything like that but he just wouldn’t stop.

-On the way to Spartanburg, we watched Step Brothers. It was a funny movie and there were some moments which were even beyond the realm of decent. Some of the quotes were so crude but I ended up laughing at all of them. I recommend it.

We also watched The Patriot, which I didn’t get but it was ok I guess. I was sleeping during it and reading some books. Speaking of which…

-Finally finished Boys Will Be Boys for the sports book club. I’ll save my opinion of it for the review. I still need to contact Jeff Pearlman to see if he’ll talk about his book to the Pourtout Pancakes Nation.

-The whole Rihanna/Chris Brown situation is just sad for all parties. I reserve judgment on these types of stories until all of the facts are out but domestic abuse is something that can never be condoned under any circumstances.

-Twitter. I can’t do it. I love doing the blog because I get to expand on thoughts that I have. Facebook is good because you can keep in touch with people and the updates are fine. However, with Twitter, why would I want to leave sentences of gibberish? Maybe I’ll give it a chance in the future but for now, I’m not going to do it.

-I wasn’t sure if the gym was going to be open early this morning, so I stayed in and caught the Today Show, which is always enjoyable TV. Speaking of that show…

-If one more person tells me I look like Al Roker, I’m going to go off on them and not in a nice way. I’m at the Vandy vs. Arkansas game on Sunday, sitting in the press room when some jackass comes up to me and tells me that I look just like Al Roker. Well, whopptie damn doo! I didn’t know that! Thanks for telling me that. I’m sure that the family would be proud.

It’s a pain in the ass looking like that guy, seriously. I’ve had people yell at me from across the street about it. I’ve been told that I look like the guy in every city that I’ve lived in at least four or five times. Thank goodness I don’t live in the NYC anymore because its even worse up there. It was to the point that I wouldn’t go near the NBC studios for fear that someone would want me to be on the show or something like that.

Its not the fact that I look like the guy. Al seems like a nice guy, no beef with him in particular. It’s the perception of him being the jolly, fat black weatherman. I’m not like that perception at all and I’m pretty sure that Al isn’t even like that in his personal life, or he may be and that’s fine too.

Being told that I look like him makes it seem like I’m going to be Mr. Happy. I’m not a mean guy but I’m also not happy all the time.

Of course, I don’t tell people all of this when they tell me that I look like him. I usually just accept it and move on but it does get me irritated at times.

So the lesson for tonight is to be careful when you tell someone that they look like a celebrity, it may not be a compliment in the end.

-I’m excited that the NCAA Basketball tournament starts next week. I don’t think any of my favorite teams will be in from the men’s side. Georgia Tech is terrible, Belmont lost in the A-Sun Tourney and Vanderbilt isn’t going to make it.

-One Tree Hill needs to stop this. I rush home from errands and I turn on the show to only see a repeat. Let’s get some new episodes going CW!

-The Tapout is still on, even though I slightly attempted to step out of it earlier today.
I was talking with someone today over some business and I asked her if she wanted to get something to eat after we were finished. She declined and that was fine by me because I really didn’t care either way.

-Alex Rodriguez (I refuse to call him by that terrible nickname of his) needs to take a lesson in looking humbled and clean. I think that people don’t like him because he looks like a phony. He always looks tanned, clean haircut, shirts and pants matching a little too much. I think that his metrosexual nature hurts him, especially in a sport like baseball.

I’m not saying what he’s done is right or wrong but it seriously wouldn’t hurt him to just look and act normal, like someone you would go to the corner pub and drink some beers with. He’s the last type of guy that I would want to hang out with.

For his sake, I hope he comes back from this injury not trying to be perfect. Loosen up.

-Some quick MMA thoughts to finish this out.

I was not surprised that Rampage beat Jardine. Looking forward to Rampage vs. Evans or as Rampage called it “black on black crime.” Now that’s funny.

Shane Carwin is no joke. He beat the crap out of Gonzaga.

That’s all for now.

MMA Review

Hey everyone, its time for that MMA Review. Let’s get to it.

-UFC 96 looks like an OK card that I won’t actually see because of work. However, if I wasn’t occupied with that, I would probably pay for it to see the fights.

The main event of Rampage against Jardine is intriguing, even thought the fight honestly doesn’t make sense. We’ve been told or can assume that this was supposed to be Rampage vs. Rashad Evans but the champ wasn’t able to do it physically, which is ok I guess.

The conspiracy theorist out there have said that the Rampage/Evans fight isn’t happening right now because Rampage has some legal issues to take care of and the last thing that the UFC needs is their light heavy champion in jail. So to keep the events moving, we get this fight today.

I think that Jardine is a good fighter, has a unique style and all that stuff, but Rampage is the better fighter. I also thing that Rampage is focused on getting hit title back and he knows that this is the first step towards that path.

The other fight from this card that holds interest is Shane Carwin vs. Gabriel Gonzaga. I like this fight because it presents value to each fighter. Carwin gets to step his game up and face elite competition. Gonzaga will face an individual who others are acknowledging is a potential champion and by defeating him, he becomes a prime candidate to face the winner of Mir vs. Lesner II.

We know a lot about Gonzaga but less about Carwin. We know that Carwin will be the larger guy and probably more explosive but Gonzaga is more experienced and skilled. I’ll take the veteran in this one.

-The pay-per-view that I’m really looking forward to is UFC 98 which will have Mir vs. Lesner II and finally, Serra vs. Hughes.

I must preface this that Serra and Mir are two of my favorite fighters, along with B.J. Penn and Rampage, so my interest in these fights are of course very high.

-Good to see the UFC going to Germany. Wandy vs. Rich Franklin is one that I’ll have to warm myself up to honestly.

-Not to make this UFC-centric, I’m actually looking forward to the Bobby Lashley and Ken Shamrock fight.

OK, short MMA Review. Just wanted to get a thought or two out there for y’all. Later

Apologies

Hey everyone, I'm coming to you live from beautiful Spartanburg, S.C. enjoying a Belmont baseball game. This is a pretty nice place. I'm taking plenty of pictures and they will be on Facebook. I'll probably post some here on Sunday.

Sorry peoples that I haven't blogged this week. My computer crashed on me and that's never fun. However, I should still have some stuff out there for you, so my apologies.

Hopefully tomorrow, I can have an MMA Review for you by tomorrow to preview the UFC event on Saturday. I also need to give you a new edition of "Shows That Used to be the Business." I hope to have that one for you on Saturday or Sunday at the latest.

Of course on Sunday, you know that the Reflections will come. Hope all is well for y'all and talk to you later.

NBA Review

It’s time for the NBA Review. This is now truly the time to look at your team and realize if they are going to be a contender, pretender or the Clippers. Seriously, what can you say about that team. OK, here are my general thoughts on each team with an added segment.

Last time, I listed the players that were the team’s MVP and the one who needed to step his game up. This week, I will list my favorite player ever from the team. Notice that I said favorite and not best. They’re a difference.

1) Cleveland: Losing Ben Wallace is a blow to these guys but if they can pick up Joe Smith or even Drew Gooden, that would be good for them. They are really pushing for the home court in the playoffs and this is good because unlike Boston, these guys can’t take moments off. They haven’t won anything yet and have some younger guys on the squad so keep the foot on the pedal.

Favorite player: Hard to not go with Lebron, however, my vote is going to go to Mark Price, one of the underrated point guards of his era in the pros and college. Being a Georgia Tech fan, it makes me mad when people talk about the best point guard or even player ever from the school. Some say Kenny Anderson, Marbury, etc. The answer is Mark Price and its not close. Dennis Scott may be close for the all-time player but for point guard, it’s a wrap.

2) Lakers: Them losing to Denver and Phoenix isn’t much of a concern for me. Those games are going to be lost in a long season. The Odom revival has been nice but for these guys to really take it to the next level, Bynum needs to come back. As evidence on Sunday, Kobe can score 49 and the team can still lose because of a lack on inside prescence.

Favorite player: I want to pick someone outside of the box like Eddie Jones or Vlade Divac, but it has to be Magic Johnson. A 6’9’’ point guard not only playing his position but thriving in it, tremendous player, tremendous winner, amazing versatility. Had it all.

3) Boston: The Stephon Marbury experiment is going to be ok, even though as a Knicks fan and honestly a fan of the NBA, his antics over the years have been embarrassing and makes it hard for me to defend this league to non-fans. He is everything that is wrong with the league and the fact that he may be rewarded with a championship is a joke. Its really hard to judge them until Garnett comes back into the fold.

Favorite player: I’ve had moments with Bird, McHale, Reggie Lewis, Dino Radja, Antonie Walker, etc. However, in the end I will go with Paul Pierce. I thought the guy would be a good pro coming out of Kansas and didn’t understand why he fell in the draft. What I didn’t expect was for him to turn into a championship player. Much respect.

4) San Antonio: Getting blasted in Portland isn’t a good way to start but as long as Duncan is healthy, don’t ever, ever, ever count these guys out.

Favorite player: It has to be Duncan, the greatest power forward ever in the league and in the top-20 all-time. I wrote about his consistency last week but look at the numbers, the championships, its all there. Honorable mention goes to Stephen Jackson. Seeing his crazy behind well behaved as a Spur was a sight to see.

5) Orlando: I liked the Rafer Alston pick-up. They now deserve mentioning for a contender in the East.

Favorite player: They’ve had some fun ones over the years. Tracy McGrady, Dennis Scott, Dwight Howard now, etc. It still comes down to two guys for me, Penny and Shaq.

I loved seeing Penny do his thing but you can’t beat a young Shaq. Watch the video below for proof.



6) Houston: I have no beefs with McGrady but him shutting it down for the season may have been best for both parties. The Rockets can now focus on playing through Yao and even Artest.

Favorite player: Hakeem the Dream Olajuwan. Best center in his era. Here are the only guys I would say were better than him. Russell, Chamberlin, Kareem. That’s the list. Moses Malone and Shaq are knocking on the door.

7) Denver: Have lost some games lately they shouldn’t have. They need some frontcourt help.

Favorite player: Going with Dikembe.

8) Utah: Watch out for these guys especially if Boozer can fully get back incorporated with the team. I would fear that Boozer would look out only for himself since this is a contract year and this could cause disharmony, but Jerry Sloan will put a stop to that immediately if it took place.

Favorite player: John Stockton gets the nod here.

9) New Orleans: They need to start stringing together some wins so that I can have some form of confidence about them.

Favorite player: They’ve had some fun ones. Mugsey, Larry Johnson, Alonzo, Glen Rice, Chris Paul. I’m going to give the nod to LJ.

10) Portland: You have to be seriously concerned about Greg Oden if you’re a Blazers fan. I’m not giving up on the guy skills wise, he just can’t stay healthy. They can really use him because if these guys face the Lakers or the Spurs, it’s a wrap for these guys.

Favorite player: I’m going to go with Arvydas Sabonis who gets forgotten by many NBA fans today. He was the best passing big man that I’ve ever seen. It’s a shame that by the time he came to the NBA he wasn’t half the player he used to be.

11) Phoenix: What about this Shaq revival? This has been a long, strange year for these guys. Tough blow losing Amar’e for the season.

Favorite player: Barkley had a fun run here and Nash is nice but I’m going to have to go with Kevin Johnson who was a baller back in the day. Dan Majerle was fun too.

12) Dallas: Good to see Jason Terry back in action.

Favorite player: I liked Nash, Dirk and Kidd, the old-school version. But I’m going to take Michael Finley. It’s still strange not seeing him in a Mavs uniform.

13) Miami: Wade is second in the MVP voting behind Lebron. Getting rid of Marion should open things up for Beasley.

Favorite player: I liked when Odom was on the team but I’ll take Wade.

14) Atlanta: Josh Smith continues to disappoint me.

Favorite player: Dominique

15) Philadelphia: The epidomy of an average team. I like seeing the Dalembeast in action but he has been disappointing this season.

Favorite player: Tough choice between Barkley and Iverson. I’ll take Iverson. We won’t see another player like him in our generation. The guy is 5’10’’ and averaged near 30 points a game for seasons.

Oh what the heck, here are players that are unique and once in a generation types:

-Iverson: We’re going to look back at this guy’s career 10 years from now and wonder how it happened.
-Barkley: a 6’5’’ power forward dominating like he did in his prime.
-Lebron: maybe the most athletic player ever in the NBA when you consider speed and size combo)
-Tiny Archibald
-Sabonis

16) Detroit: Speaking of Iverson, I’m not going to completely blame him for Detroit’s struggles but since Rip Hamilton came back into the starting lineup, they’ve looked good.

Favorite player: Grant Hill. Injuries wrecked a Hall of Fame career.

17) Chicago: I can’t read these guys.

Favorite player: You know I’m not going to pick Jordan, that’s too cliché. Let’s go with Pippen instead. All point-forwards aspire to be like him and one of the best perimeter defenders ever as well.

18) New Jersey: Devin Harris is making a case for second team All-NBA behind Paul at point guard.

Favorite player: Some decent names to go with and since I grew up in that area, I’ve seen many of them over the past 20 years. I’m going to go with Drazen Petrovic, whose life was cut short too soon. Amazing player.

19) New York: This Nate Robinson explosion has been nice to see and surprising to me. Part of me likes it but I also don’t like my point guard jacking up shots all the time.

Favorite player: Even though this was my favorite team growing up, I didn’t find them to be a very likeable bunch. Even when they were winning in the 1990’s, their brand of basketball was not pleasing to see. So I’m going to go with Bernard King from an era slightly before my time but what a player. That’s not fair, I have to pick guys who I can really remember watching. Let’s take Mark Jackson.

20) Milwaukee: What about the emergence of Ramon Sessions at point guard. If all of the injured players come back strong next year, look out for these guys to make the playoffs.

Favorite players: Slim pickings on this one and I can’t go with Kareem or Oscar Robertson because their peaks were before I was even born. I’ll take Ray Allen.

21) Charlotte Bobcats: Have nothing on these guys.

Favorite player: Still nothing.

22) Indiana: Granger continues to emerge and Dunleavy needs to figure out what’s going on with his injured leg and take care of it.

Favorite players: I liked Reggie Miller even though he would destroy the Knicks.

23) Golden State: I like the move of going with younger players.

Favorite player: A surprisingly large list. Arenas was fun, Webber has nice in his one year there, Sprewell had good moments on the court. However, give me Run-TMC all day. I guess I’ll take Hardaway if I had to pick one individual, even though picking against my fellow New Yorker Chris Mullin is rough.

24) Toronto: Embarrassing loss to Phoenix and stop complaining Bosh.

Favorite player: I’ll take Vince Carter

25) Minnesota: Have completely fallen apart without Al Jefferson. Sad to see but this has allowed Love to develop which will be good in the long run.

Favorite player: Hard to go against Kevin Garnett

26) Team Formerly Known as Seattle Sonics: They can score but defense has to be played to be respectful.

Favorite player: Payton was nice and Ray Allen was a pro but I have to run with the Reign man. Need proof, look below:



27) Clippers: The win over Boson was good.

Favorite player: Ron Harper had some nice years there.

28) Washington: Don’t rush it Gil.

Favorite player: I’ll take Arenas.

29) Sacramento: Jason Thompson is something decent to look at.

Favorite player: The entire squad from the early 2000’s was a blast to watch. I’ll take Jason Williams from that crew. His highlights below:



Memphis: They get my vote for the next NBA franchise to move.

Favorite player: I guess Pau Gasol.

Sunday Reflections

What up peoples! So, so sorry that I haven’t done a post for you since Tuesday. Unfortunately for this semester, between baseball and taking classes, there will be day stretches between posts on the Blog. However, I will never miss out on a chance to do my Sunday Reflections. Let’s get to them.

First, some music from Yes. Love these guys. South Side of the Sky is a great song:




-I was finally able to catch up on my last two weeks of General Hospital and its been solid stuff. I especially enjoyed the episode where Maxie looked at her life if she died instead of B.J. back in the day. Old school appearances by Bobbi and Monica Quartermaine was awesome.

OK, I know only one or two of you if I’m lucky got that but if you’re a long time fan of the show like me, it was good. I’m also hyped about the return of Emily or the same actress playing a new character named Rebecca.



That’s her above. In fact, she’s been a Crush of the Day in the past. If I tried to explain her new character, I would lose my hardcore audience, all three of you. Let’s just move on.

-I’m happy that college baseball season is in full effect. I like being in the office for my job, but I work in media relations and its all about being out at the games. That’s why I and others in my profession do what we do, we do it for the games. All of the other stuff like the office stuff is just a part of the job.

Anyway, being down here in Nashville for these games at this time of year are tricky because some days are nice and warm and others are rainy. It snowed here last night for goodness sakes. That’s why our game was cancelled today but that was more for the field conditions.

When the weather gets warmer it will get even better.

Plus, I get to hang out with the boys which is free entertainment. Seriously, if you want high comedy, spend time with a college baseball team. I always say its like being in 8th grade again but in a good way.

-Saturday was one of the longer sports days that I’ve had in a long time. I first worked the Belmont baseball game, which was delayed by an hour because of weather. Then after that, I worked the Belmont men’s basketball game and operated some post-game activites there and then I went to work at the Vanderbilt men’s basketball game against South Carolina to do some post-game work there. Left the house at 9 a.m. and didn’t get back till 11:30 p.m. I did get tired towards the end of the Vandy game but then I realized this is sports and I don’t get tired. That’s the mindset that you need to develop. Mental toughness is the key.

After the Vandy game, I walked outside and saw the snow coming down and it was such a beautiful sight to see. I was alone and nearly everyone had left the arena so the campus was quiet and I had a nice reflective moment. I’ll cherish it for a time.

-This week, I had an interesting experience. I had some interaction with the boyfriend of a girl that I was interested in dating a while ago. I’m not going to go into details but she knows who she is.

Anyway, I had a crush on her but got over it and we’ve always been friends. However, I always wondered subconsciously why she was going out with the guy. I didn’t get it and part of that was probably me wanting to date her to be honest.

However, after talking with the guy, I can now comprehend why she would be with him. He’s a good guy. I can still take him out in a fight though. Just kidding or am I? I can definitely get him in an arm lock or rear naked choke and it would be over. No really, good for those two. After seeing those two together and getting to know her, I’ve concluded that I wouldn’t have been a good fit for her as a boyfriend. We get along well and could kick it as good friends but beyond that wouldn’t work. Speaking of MMA…

-Sorry I missed on doing an MMA Review this week. It will be back next week.

-College basketball is hitting tournament time and the Atlantic Sun one is taking place this week. I won’t be there because of baseball, which is a central theme of my social life right now, but you know who I’ll be cheering for. Go Kennesaw State Owls!

No, go Bruins!

-I missed all of my Belmont homecoming festivities this weekend because of, you guessed it, baseball. In the past I would have been mad at this but its part of the business.

-Just watched the first episode of Celebrity Apprentice. You know I’m already in. I may be less likely to watch this one because they’re really isn’t a cast member that I’m a big fan of like last season and Tito Ortiz but I’ll check it out. Nice to see T-Boz in effect. As far as eye candy, Natalie Grubis is cute, Brandi Roderick is solid and the Deal or No Deal model is nice. Also, Khloe Kardashian or however you spell her name, I’ve been a fan of her’s for a while if you catch my drift.

However, I can’t take the show seriously when Ivanka Trump is trying to give real business advise. Donald’s son is actually in the real estate business and has credentials, Ivanka not really.

-Megan Fox is cute and all but she’s overrated. However, props to Brian Austin Green for hooking up with her, Tiffany Amber Thissiean and Vanessa Marcil. Tremendous effort. Speaking of Tiffany…

-I’m loving the response to my post about Saved By The Bell. It was fun writing it because it brought back a lot of memories.

This week’s edition of “Shows That Used to be The Business” will be good as well. Here’s your clue. The theme song was done by an actor on the show. That should be easy to figure out.

-I’m a HUGE fan of Conan O’Brian and was sad to see him leave the Late Show. Looking forward to him on the Tonight Show, even though moving to LA sucks.

I’m telling you now, I’m not a fan of Jimmy Fallon. I’m not too optimistic about his stint as host of the Late Show. The Roots as a frickin house band is both a yea and ney for me but we’ll see.

-Some quick NFL Thoughts in this offseason.

1) Jay Cutler shouldn’t be mad at the Broncos for trying to get Matt Cassel. It’s a business and the future Hall of Famer has to get that.

2) Good for Albert Haynesworth getting his money from the Redskins. If anyone is willing to pay you that much money in the NFL, especially guaranteed, you have to take it. The risk these guys put their bodies in makes you want all of them to reach financial security.

-The Tapout is still in effect. I will say that its improved my swagger. However, temptations are always out there.

Ok, that’s all for the Reflections. NBA Review will be tomorrow, I promise. I still have to clean out some links for you and one or two other things.

Until then, have a good week everyone and once again, Go Bruins!