I have much better things to do right now, but I just had to do something to vent my anger ("LEEEZZ VENT!!!").
I'm watching the Ohio State at Purdue right now and there is about 8 and a half minutes left but it's basically over. The Bucks are down by 19, and by looking at the box score, you gotta say that Purdue is just the better team.
The problem is, and this is often the problem in college basketball games, this game was and continues to be so poorly officiated, it now fails to even be considered a form of competition. This game is like pleading no contest. It's a non game.
College kids are much more susceptible to outside shit like weird scheduling, home court, or poor officiating. When you're outplaying Purdue at their place and still losing because of at least seven obviously horrible calls against them. So horrible in fact, that the tone of the commentators doing the game was one of great sympathy after showing time after time, the ball going off Purdue and them receiving possession. Then, Purdue starts feeling good, hitting threes, more bad calls, more threes, game over. The Purdue crowd starts chanting, "We want Titus!"
I know exactly what you're saying. Quit complaining about the refs man up and play the game! Fine. That's a fine thing to tell your team as a coach because you can't say, "Oh well, just quit, we're getting hosed." But if I worked as in quality control for a company that made peanut butter and I allowed rat urine to be in about half of the jars, shouldn't the customer look at what he is eating before he eats? It's his fault he got sick from the rat pee!!! Oh wait, that is so stupid. Do your job.
Revenge of the Zebras!!!!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Trade Deadline...Dead.
Let's just get to it. Here are the two things I'm thinking about the Cavs not making a deal.
1. How Dumb are the Wizards?
While the focus might be on Cleveland and people asking, "OMgzzZZz, how did you not get a deal done??" First of all, that doesn't make any sense. You can't just get a deal done by force of will, sheesh. The people who should really be pissed off are Wizards fans.
I know you're thinking, "Why should the Wiz trade some of their best players for cap room?" Because why aren't they? The Wizards aren't a very good team with everyone is healthy, they're a REALLY bad team when people aren't healthy, and...they're never healthy so it doesn't matter anyway. Now, they are going to be in a worse position than they would have been if they had given Jamison to Cleveland, all because they want to see how they are when everyone healthy for what...10 games?? It makes no sense. This is why you're a bad team, Washington. In these hard economic times, neither the Cavs or Blazers made a deal with their expiring contracts. It's because the bad teams are bad for a reason.
2. No Problem.
Cavs didn't make a trade...no problem. Would it have been nice to have Antawn Jamison or Marcus Camby for free? Yes! Are we out of contention because we didn't make a trade? Not even close.
First of all, how happy is Wally Szczerbiak right now? SO happy! This guy has never been a guy in the locker room that is extremely well liked, and now he actually fits into a team's chemistry thanks to the magic worked by the one, the only...LeBron James. He's also part of one of the best teams in the league. I predict he hits the game winner in game 7 of the NBA Finals and he sobs in the post game interview.
So there you have it. The Cavs didn't make a trade, but they're fine...because they're good. In other news, it seems like every veteran big guy who is being bought out wants to go to Boston, which is similar. The Cavs don't need anyone. Anyone who doesn't want to go to the Cavs is dumb...I don't even feel like I'm being biased in saying this.
1. How Dumb are the Wizards?
While the focus might be on Cleveland and people asking, "OMgzzZZz, how did you not get a deal done??" First of all, that doesn't make any sense. You can't just get a deal done by force of will, sheesh. The people who should really be pissed off are Wizards fans.
I know you're thinking, "Why should the Wiz trade some of their best players for cap room?" Because why aren't they? The Wizards aren't a very good team with everyone is healthy, they're a REALLY bad team when people aren't healthy, and...they're never healthy so it doesn't matter anyway. Now, they are going to be in a worse position than they would have been if they had given Jamison to Cleveland, all because they want to see how they are when everyone healthy for what...10 games?? It makes no sense. This is why you're a bad team, Washington. In these hard economic times, neither the Cavs or Blazers made a deal with their expiring contracts. It's because the bad teams are bad for a reason.
2. No Problem.
Cavs didn't make a trade...no problem. Would it have been nice to have Antawn Jamison or Marcus Camby for free? Yes! Are we out of contention because we didn't make a trade? Not even close.
First of all, how happy is Wally Szczerbiak right now? SO happy! This guy has never been a guy in the locker room that is extremely well liked, and now he actually fits into a team's chemistry thanks to the magic worked by the one, the only...LeBron James. He's also part of one of the best teams in the league. I predict he hits the game winner in game 7 of the NBA Finals and he sobs in the post game interview.
So there you have it. The Cavs didn't make a trade, but they're fine...because they're good. In other news, it seems like every veteran big guy who is being bought out wants to go to Boston, which is similar. The Cavs don't need anyone. Anyone who doesn't want to go to the Cavs is dumb...I don't even feel like I'm being biased in saying this.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tradin' Times
Kenny Lewis, famous from Karaoke Night '09, occasionally refers to something called the "Beer Shakes," something you might get on the plane ride home after a weekend in New Orleans. Well right now, I have the "Trade Deadline Shakes."
The trade deadline might be one of the more nerve racking things for a Cavs fan if you think about it. I've been nervous for a few months. Because of this, I'm going to do a couple things.
I'm going to basically nervously vomit one trade proposal on this blog, explain it, and then ask Bowl's opinion on it because I'm done pretending this blog isn't half his anyway since he's the only one who comments and his comments are at least half as long as the post he's commenting on. So Bowl, what do you think of this?
Cavs Trade: Wally Szczerbiak and Eric Snow
Suns Trade: The Shaq Diesel and Grant Hill
Now, you have to know that I have no idea what the Eric Snow situation is with his contract is so you can call me an idiot immediately if that doesn't work out. I also am aware that this trade looks dumb for both teams at first glance, but I'm taking a crack at it:
Why the Cavs might do it:
The reason this deadline is so dangerous for the Cavs is because they really could use some things and really REALLY need to not mess with some things. The chemistry on this team is pretty much perfect which makes it a little hard to justify a trade. However, one thing that the Cavs need is basically a piece of meat in the post. The team defense is great, but the bigs on this team are often victimized on iso plays against the likes or Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett and, although they haven't played yet, I can only assume Tim Duncan. On top of just filling a spot in the offense and defense, Shaq actually made the All Star Team this year so it's not like he's just a fat idiot (although he is that too).
The Diesel is also one of my favorite people and one of LeBron's favorite people as well I believe. He has a huge personality but I don't believe it would be a detrimental one for Cleveland, although this would be a risk.
Shaq is also a guy known for his love for not trying his hardest. I gotta think that a shot at beating Kobe in the title series would be enough to motivate the Shaq Daddy and he is pretty good when he's motivated.
I also find the idea of subbing out him and Z at different times extremely intriguing because they both do opposite things well. And, oh yeah, Grant Hill is good and we would get him for free.
Why the Suns might do it:
It basically comes down to the idea that they seem to be the most dysfunctional and most desperate team in the league (announcing to the entire NBA that your franchise player is on the trading block really does not drive the price up I'd say guess). I honestly think Phoenix would be delighted to not have to play Shaq anymore and would basically do anything for it. Not to mention (and this is where my lack of knowledge of the NBA salary rules comes into play), can they buy out Wally and Snow for any agreed upon price? It seems like Wally might accept a pretty reasonable buyout to resign with the Cavs as soon as possible.
Whatever Bowl, I'm done talking. All I want is feedback. I've been sick for an entire week and this trade deadline is driving me crazy. Help me out.
The trade deadline might be one of the more nerve racking things for a Cavs fan if you think about it. I've been nervous for a few months. Because of this, I'm going to do a couple things.
I'm going to basically nervously vomit one trade proposal on this blog, explain it, and then ask Bowl's opinion on it because I'm done pretending this blog isn't half his anyway since he's the only one who comments and his comments are at least half as long as the post he's commenting on. So Bowl, what do you think of this?
Cavs Trade: Wally Szczerbiak and Eric Snow
Suns Trade: The Shaq Diesel and Grant Hill
Now, you have to know that I have no idea what the Eric Snow situation is with his contract is so you can call me an idiot immediately if that doesn't work out. I also am aware that this trade looks dumb for both teams at first glance, but I'm taking a crack at it:
Why the Cavs might do it:
The reason this deadline is so dangerous for the Cavs is because they really could use some things and really REALLY need to not mess with some things. The chemistry on this team is pretty much perfect which makes it a little hard to justify a trade. However, one thing that the Cavs need is basically a piece of meat in the post. The team defense is great, but the bigs on this team are often victimized on iso plays against the likes or Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett and, although they haven't played yet, I can only assume Tim Duncan. On top of just filling a spot in the offense and defense, Shaq actually made the All Star Team this year so it's not like he's just a fat idiot (although he is that too).
The Diesel is also one of my favorite people and one of LeBron's favorite people as well I believe. He has a huge personality but I don't believe it would be a detrimental one for Cleveland, although this would be a risk.
Shaq is also a guy known for his love for not trying his hardest. I gotta think that a shot at beating Kobe in the title series would be enough to motivate the Shaq Daddy and he is pretty good when he's motivated.
I also find the idea of subbing out him and Z at different times extremely intriguing because they both do opposite things well. And, oh yeah, Grant Hill is good and we would get him for free.
Why the Suns might do it:
It basically comes down to the idea that they seem to be the most dysfunctional and most desperate team in the league (announcing to the entire NBA that your franchise player is on the trading block really does not drive the price up I'd say guess). I honestly think Phoenix would be delighted to not have to play Shaq anymore and would basically do anything for it. Not to mention (and this is where my lack of knowledge of the NBA salary rules comes into play), can they buy out Wally and Snow for any agreed upon price? It seems like Wally might accept a pretty reasonable buyout to resign with the Cavs as soon as possible.
Whatever Bowl, I'm done talking. All I want is feedback. I've been sick for an entire week and this trade deadline is driving me crazy. Help me out.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Pacers and Cavaliers vs. Refs
What was one of LeBron's best games (and the rest of the team's worst games) and a good game in general turned into (and I can use language that Mike Brown can't) a shit show. This is going to be a short post, but I have heard a lot of opinions about the end to this game and I watched the entire game and have decided that one of two takes is acceptable.
1) No Calls View
This one is obvious. Neither was a foul, game over. If the game ended like that, I would have said, "It looked like Granger hip checked LeBron!" and then forgot about it the next day.
2) The Mike Brown Take
This one is a little crazy of course. Mike freaked out which is not that normal for him. He is usually the guy who doesn't blame the refs to a point that even bothers me, but I think this whole year, refs have been telling them new rules they made up to make sure LeBron doesn't dominate the game like he should and Mike was fed up.
But back to the calls. The first one was questionable. If I'm rooting for the Pacers, I'm saying that you can't make that call at the end of a game. That said, if I were playing pick up ball and in a bad mood, I call that foul. I could never imagine making the Granger call. Granger did hip check LeBron and I think that is called a foul earlier in the game without much contention. Not to mention, giving a mediocre free throw shooter a chance to TIE the game on a QUESTIONABLE call is not as bad as ending the game on a horrible call. Objectively though, I don't love the Granger foul call either.
The second call on the other hand, was not a foul. I don't know how else to put it. Granger didn't get fouled. LeBron did not foul Granger. There was no foul on the play.
So that is the view: First call, eeehhhh. Second call, No.
Whether you think the first call should have been made or not, or whether you're rooting for the Pacers, Cavs or nobody, we can all agree that Joey Crawford should be fired.
1) No Calls View
This one is obvious. Neither was a foul, game over. If the game ended like that, I would have said, "It looked like Granger hip checked LeBron!" and then forgot about it the next day.
2) The Mike Brown Take
This one is a little crazy of course. Mike freaked out which is not that normal for him. He is usually the guy who doesn't blame the refs to a point that even bothers me, but I think this whole year, refs have been telling them new rules they made up to make sure LeBron doesn't dominate the game like he should and Mike was fed up.
But back to the calls. The first one was questionable. If I'm rooting for the Pacers, I'm saying that you can't make that call at the end of a game. That said, if I were playing pick up ball and in a bad mood, I call that foul. I could never imagine making the Granger call. Granger did hip check LeBron and I think that is called a foul earlier in the game without much contention. Not to mention, giving a mediocre free throw shooter a chance to TIE the game on a QUESTIONABLE call is not as bad as ending the game on a horrible call. Objectively though, I don't love the Granger foul call either.
The second call on the other hand, was not a foul. I don't know how else to put it. Granger didn't get fouled. LeBron did not foul Granger. There was no foul on the play.
So that is the view: First call, eeehhhh. Second call, No.
Whether you think the first call should have been made or not, or whether you're rooting for the Pacers, Cavs or nobody, we can all agree that Joey Crawford should be fired.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Feelin' Sorry for "A-Roid"
It's really, really easy to say someone is a bad person when they do something wrong. It's even easier when the person who did something wrong is someone it is fashionable to dislike.
I don't like Alex Rodriguez...I don't hate him either. But after watching his interview with Peter Gammons on ESPN, all I could think was "Poor A-Rod." Here is the real situation:
Alex Rodriguez is not a bad person for taking PEDs in an time where the pressure was immense, everyone did it and it was barely illegal. A-Rod is also not a good guy for telling the truth. It's not as bad as what Clemens or Bonds are doing, but there isn't anything noble about coming clean when the facts already came clean for you.
A-Rod is just a normal guy. He gets made fun of by his teammates, he chokes under pressure and he makes ethically questionable decisions when the pressure gets to him. The fact is, almost everyone given the same situation would do the same thing. That includes taking the PEDs and lying about them (to himself or Katie Couric, whichever) for as long as he could. There's a way to succeed, you take it. There's a way to avoid punishment, you take it...it's what people do, especially if you're an overly sensitive guy like A Rod is.
On a legal note, how fair is it that these tests that were supposed to be confidential were leaked? And how come only A-Rod's were leaked? Somebody should be sued or fired.
On the plus side, Gammons was classy in the interview, no Jim Gray bullshit here. Still, all I could think while watching...poor A-Rod.
I don't like Alex Rodriguez...I don't hate him either. But after watching his interview with Peter Gammons on ESPN, all I could think was "Poor A-Rod." Here is the real situation:
Alex Rodriguez is not a bad person for taking PEDs in an time where the pressure was immense, everyone did it and it was barely illegal. A-Rod is also not a good guy for telling the truth. It's not as bad as what Clemens or Bonds are doing, but there isn't anything noble about coming clean when the facts already came clean for you.
A-Rod is just a normal guy. He gets made fun of by his teammates, he chokes under pressure and he makes ethically questionable decisions when the pressure gets to him. The fact is, almost everyone given the same situation would do the same thing. That includes taking the PEDs and lying about them (to himself or Katie Couric, whichever) for as long as he could. There's a way to succeed, you take it. There's a way to avoid punishment, you take it...it's what people do, especially if you're an overly sensitive guy like A Rod is.
On a legal note, how fair is it that these tests that were supposed to be confidential were leaked? And how come only A-Rod's were leaked? Somebody should be sued or fired.
On the plus side, Gammons was classy in the interview, no Jim Gray bullshit here. Still, all I could think while watching...poor A-Rod.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The Doctor is in
The night before a Super Bowl which included none of the top four teams in the league and the team that played worse won, one Dr. Ken Lewis gave a free concert at the Otani sushi restaurant/karaoke bar. Dr. Lew put on a show.
By now, I hope anyone reading this knows what Kenny's penalty is and why he had to do it. There were a few funny things that happened during the night. First, Kenny purposefully didn't tell Jeff, a friend of Kenny's and a guy who backed out of the bet at the last minute for fear of being in Kenny's shoes. He mentioned more than once that he was happy that my dad and Jeff didn't know this was going on even though Tom, Glenn and I all knew that both of them knew and both were coming. A bunch of Kenny's family showed up as well. One of Kenny's cousins ordered about $100 worth of sushi which I found humorous.
The DJ also announced to everyone that Kenny was doing this because he lost a bet which changed things by letting the audience know that he didn't actually like the songs he was singing. That made it significantly less painful for Kenny which didn't necessarily make it any less funny. This was made up for by the fact that Kenny had no idea what songs were coming when he was up there so keep that in mind.
Picking songs for this guy was difficult. This was supposed to be a punishment, and yet, we had a hard time figuring out a way to humiliate old Ken Lewis. As Tom (his roommate) put it, "This is a guy who sang 'I Touch Myself' with a mustache." By the way, the fact that he had a mustache was because he lost another football related bet with Tom. Let's just get to the song list.
Song #1: "It's Rainin' Men"
Artist: The Weather Girls
Requested by: Clark
You kinda knew he was going to have to sing this one. Clark was the one guy that wasn't there early to coordinate songs so it was sort of in a different vein than Tom's, Glenn's and mine. "It's Rainin' Men" isn't really thinking outside the box, but it certainly is not an enjoyable song to sing, especially when the front row table include about 15 middle aged black women. Unknown to Kenny, the rest of us, even Clark, that terrible song is almost six minutes long. During an instrumental portion of this classic, Kenny even mentioned "this is a long song."
Song #2: "Your Body is a Wonderland"
Artist: John Mayer
Requested by: Glenn
The face Kenny made after hearing the first three notes of this song was priceless. You see, Kenny is what you might call a showman. He can make just about any song a crowd-pleaser but the genius of the John Mayer pick is that some people actually like John Mayer. It's also just a super lame song that is painful for any self respecting man to sing in public or otherwise. In the pre-show meeting, this served as the "lame white guy song." Success.
Song #3: "We Go Together"
Artist: Musical-Grease
Requested by: Buddies
When I was making my pick, it was between this and this. If you don't know already, this is the song. This was the song that was supposed to maybe make Kenny want to kill us. At this point in the night, having already had a solid amount of sake', this was pretty funny to me. If you're listening to the song right now, you're probably at the part in the middle where they don't say any real words for a good minute. Kenny actually did a pretty good job with all this bullshit, you gotta hand it to him.
Song #4: "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
Artist: The Rolling Stones
Requested by: Tom
This was a very controversial pick because it's a good song and a good karaoke song at that. (I'm listening to "That Don't Impress Me Much" right now and I had to link it, and I have to say it's pretty distracting.) I actually didn't have a problem with it. By that time, the crowd already loved Kenny and one more horrible song wasn't going to finally do him in. Tom and I talked about it and we decided we liked the idea of a normally enjoyable song for Kenny to sing where the lyrics could be construed as an attempt to teach Kenny a lesson or something. Kenny definitely got what he needed that night.
By now, I hope anyone reading this knows what Kenny's penalty is and why he had to do it. There were a few funny things that happened during the night. First, Kenny purposefully didn't tell Jeff, a friend of Kenny's and a guy who backed out of the bet at the last minute for fear of being in Kenny's shoes. He mentioned more than once that he was happy that my dad and Jeff didn't know this was going on even though Tom, Glenn and I all knew that both of them knew and both were coming. A bunch of Kenny's family showed up as well. One of Kenny's cousins ordered about $100 worth of sushi which I found humorous.
The DJ also announced to everyone that Kenny was doing this because he lost a bet which changed things by letting the audience know that he didn't actually like the songs he was singing. That made it significantly less painful for Kenny which didn't necessarily make it any less funny. This was made up for by the fact that Kenny had no idea what songs were coming when he was up there so keep that in mind.
Picking songs for this guy was difficult. This was supposed to be a punishment, and yet, we had a hard time figuring out a way to humiliate old Ken Lewis. As Tom (his roommate) put it, "This is a guy who sang 'I Touch Myself' with a mustache." By the way, the fact that he had a mustache was because he lost another football related bet with Tom. Let's just get to the song list.
Song #1: "It's Rainin' Men"
Artist: The Weather Girls
Requested by: Clark
You kinda knew he was going to have to sing this one. Clark was the one guy that wasn't there early to coordinate songs so it was sort of in a different vein than Tom's, Glenn's and mine. "It's Rainin' Men" isn't really thinking outside the box, but it certainly is not an enjoyable song to sing, especially when the front row table include about 15 middle aged black women. Unknown to Kenny, the rest of us, even Clark, that terrible song is almost six minutes long. During an instrumental portion of this classic, Kenny even mentioned "this is a long song."
Song #2: "Your Body is a Wonderland"
Artist: John Mayer
Requested by: Glenn
The face Kenny made after hearing the first three notes of this song was priceless. You see, Kenny is what you might call a showman. He can make just about any song a crowd-pleaser but the genius of the John Mayer pick is that some people actually like John Mayer. It's also just a super lame song that is painful for any self respecting man to sing in public or otherwise. In the pre-show meeting, this served as the "lame white guy song." Success.
Song #3: "We Go Together"
Artist: Musical-Grease
Requested by: Buddies
When I was making my pick, it was between this and this. If you don't know already, this is the song. This was the song that was supposed to maybe make Kenny want to kill us. At this point in the night, having already had a solid amount of sake', this was pretty funny to me. If you're listening to the song right now, you're probably at the part in the middle where they don't say any real words for a good minute. Kenny actually did a pretty good job with all this bullshit, you gotta hand it to him.
Song #4: "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
Artist: The Rolling Stones
Requested by: Tom
This was a very controversial pick because it's a good song and a good karaoke song at that. (I'm listening to "That Don't Impress Me Much" right now and I had to link it, and I have to say it's pretty distracting.) I actually didn't have a problem with it. By that time, the crowd already loved Kenny and one more horrible song wasn't going to finally do him in. Tom and I talked about it and we decided we liked the idea of a normally enjoyable song for Kenny to sing where the lyrics could be construed as an attempt to teach Kenny a lesson or something. Kenny definitely got what he needed that night.
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