After trading half their team away to Denver for Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks are reeling, having lost 7 of their last 8 and fallen behind the 76ers (REALLY?) in the playoff chase, while the Nuggets have been on fire, having gone 9-2 post-trade. Just recently, Carmelo failed to score a field goal in the 4th quarter against the Celtics, a team the Knicks might see in the first round of the playoffs.
Carmelo has always had problems with authority. In the Olympics he refused to enter the game because he felt he wasn't getting enough touches. Under George Karl he acted like a real perp, causing Karl to become distant from the team and eventually develop a life-threatening disease (maybe that's not on Carmelo).
Rumors were swirling that Carmelo hid on the bus after the Celtics game like a bratty 8 year old kid who struck out in tee-ball. Is Carmelo really a punk, prima donna athlete who will never live up to potential (like my man Stephon) or will he live up to the hype and be successful in New York? I predict that he fails. Expect to see him playing in China in a couple years and looking something like this:
In case you missed it, (and undoubtedly the entire east coast did unless you work in a 24 hour parking garage or something) the Suns and Lakers played a triple-overtime classic last night as the second half of a rare March Madness forced TNT Tuesday night double-header.
As regular season NBA games between a 2 and 10 seed go, this game was about as good as it gets. The funny thing is how unlikely that seemed earlier in the evening. After Kobe hit his second straight three, the Lakers were up 21 with less than 5 minutes remaining in the third and it looked like another ho-hum, post all star break beatdown for L.A. Except Nash and the Suns showed they still have a little bit of the 7 seconds or less explosive offense left in them. The lil Canadian (who seems to be playing as well as ever) hit 3 straight threes and before you could say "Tim Thomas" it was like the 2006 playoffs all over again.
Behind big baskets by the suddenly Reggie Miller like Channing Frye, and the recently acquired water bug Aaron Brooks, Phoenix rallied back to tie the game after Pietrus was fouled on a 3 point attempt (this would be a theme of the night). Both teams hit shots that seemed to be nails in coffins only to see the other come right back (I'll refrain from using the tired boxing references; "Each team traded body blows like a heavyweight fight!"). Just when I thought I could go to bed, someone else had to hit another big shot. As Kevin McHale and Harlan pointed out during the broadcast, the game meant much more to Phoenix who's battling for a playoff spot, and they showed their desperation.
After Odom's three-point play gave the Lakers a 9 point lead late in the 4th it looked like the game was all but over before another Suns comeback capped off by a Grant Hill game-tying three (take that Jalen). Los Suns even had a chance to win it in regulation but Vince (as McHale would call him "three quarters man, one quarter amazing") Carter bricked the potential game-winner. The teams then traded baskets through out the overtime until an Artest three gave L.A. a lead (complete with kisses blown to the crowd) and it looked like the Lakers finally would pull it out. That is until Odom fouled the new Reggie on a 3 point attempt. Now, I know it's most NBA coaches' strategy to foul intentionally with a 3 point lead late in the game, but I've seen so many instances where the player is already in his shooting motion when the foul occurs in recent seasons. I think players have caught on to the strategy and are just too quick to foul on the floor. Either way, Mr. Clutch (who scored a career high) hit all 3 and I was destined to be tired in the morning.
Double O.T. saw more up and down play from both teams (particularly the vets) but the old guys (Nash and Kobe) each had ridiculous falling out of bound passes that set up big shots in the final 30 seconds (Nash behind the back to Gortat who found Frye, and Kobe somehow getting it to Pau for even more game tying free throws). The Third O.T. was pretty silly. I was either dreaming or Artest stole the ball from Nash (who otherwise had a crazy game, 19 points and 20 assists) and ran the length of the court for a dunk. Kobe did the big shot and under bite thing (big game from him, scoring a season high 42 and falling an assist short of a triple double) and eventually everyone would go home (or to bed) happy sometime after 2 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Despite some sloppy play at times by both teams, this game has to rank amongst the best regular season games of all time, even getting usually sedate Laker fans to act like it really was a playoff game. And there weren't even free Jack in the Box tacos involved. If you have money on the Raptors tonight vs. Phoenix, you lucked out.
Now if anyone needs me, I'll be napping under my desk Costanza style.
During a recent boring evening watching a Knicks game at a near empty bar, a few of us got to discussing Landry Fields (his possible over-ratedness will no doubt be an eventual post) which of course led to a discussion of bi-racial athletes. As a mutt myself, this is an important issue for me. The question is: Who are the best half-breeds in the history of the 3 major sports? (I supposed there might have been a hockey player who was Russian and Lithuanian or something but who knows or cares?).
Basketball Jason Kidd
The best bi-racial basketball player of all time, his toughest potential competition would be Blake Griffin but it's too soon to tell if he'll ever reach the heights of his mulatto brother. Carmelo Anthony is also bi-racial (half Puerto Rican) but that barely counts. Honorable mention goes to Rick Fox, Shane Battier and Henry Bibby. Most pussy whipped bi-racial athlete is, of course, Doug Christie and gayest bi-racial athlete (by a landslide) is John Amaechi.
Football Hines Ward
The half black, half Korean, 2 time super bowl champ Ward gets the nod but he is followed closely by Johnnie Morton and the Viking's Robert Smith. Almost every other decent player in the NFL is either fully black, white or Samoan. Go figure.
Baseball Derek Jeter
This selection should come as no surprise. Not only the best bi-racial baseball player but maybe the greatest half-black athlete of any kind, Jeter dominates this field. Special honors must be given for the way that he has been able to get some of the hottest trim of any race. Honorable half-breed mentions to David Justice and Johnny Damon. If I missed any others (and I know I did) feel free to let it be known.
March 22nd is a day that should be recognized for its' importance to all American citizens. On this date in 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt legalized beer and wine, forever changing the lives of man, woman and child for the better (in December of that year, the ban on all alcohol was lifted). Sure, we all could have found a way to get blasted before booze was legal (and it looks like everyone's having a fun time on Boardwalk Empire) but imagine going to a baseball game without having a cold beer with your 8 dollar hot dog, or (God forbid) a baby shower with a bunch of tight ass law-abiders who wouldn't want to risk that creepy FBI guy raiding their awful little party, that was completely dry! No Heinekens or cheap bottles of red wine to escape the mind-numbing gift-opening? Horrible. I say we make today a national holiday and bump off Valentine's day or Christmas or some other less important day from the calendar. Twasted Day!
FDR might be most conservative's least favorite person next to Michael Moore, but I think regardless of political preference, we can all agree that a life without legal alcohol would be hell. A toast to FDR for making March 22nd a special day in PTU history.
15. We Are The Streets: The L.O.X. dissing Puffy (2000)
It seems like ages ago, (and I guess 15 years in rap time qualifies as an age), but Jadakiss, Styles and Sheek began their careers as another cog in the Bad Boy wheel during the label's heyday at the end of the 20th century. Although they still put out some "aggressive content" (the title track off their only album under Puff, Money, Power and Respect is a street classic) they were also forced into making out of character songs and videos that fit the '80s sampling, Z100 friendly Bad Boy sound post Biggie. Everyone is pretty friendly with Diddy now in the rap industry (he even worked extensively with underground darling Jay Electronica) so it's easy to forget that for a few years there, Puffy and Mase were symbolic of the decline of hip hop, and its' glorified materialism and lack of creativity. The L.O.X. got caught up in this to an extent, but you could sort of tell that their hearts weren't into the "shiny suit" stuff.
Of course, as long as the money was right, I'm sure Jada and them would have gritted their teeth and gone along with all the buffoonery. But, this is Diddy were talking about, who it appears to not have met an artist yet that he hasn't tried to rape financially. The boys from Yonkers would eventually be granted a release to sign with DMX's Ruff Ryders camp (the antithesis to the Bad Boy bling) but not before a long, dragged out battle for their freedom, complete with "Let the LOX go" t-shirts, threats over the radio to "throw a refrigerator" at Puff if he didn't get their paper work right, and of course this song off of their first (and only) album with RR.
This track was pretty brutal, even as beef songs go. With rhymes about kidnapping Sean's mother, pistol whipping his son, as well as threats of violence against his then girlfriend, J-Lo, this is the L.O.X. at their ignorant best. In the years since, all has been forgiven and they've even worked together on a few songs and in concert, but at least we'll always have a couple of beef songs to remember the good old days. Take that, take that, take that.
Everyone did their thing on this so I'll highlight the best line from each group member:
Sheek:
"I see you from the Hamptons to the place you like to eat, I'll put something in those yams you keep thinking is sweet"
Jada:
"I don't care how many checks you wrote, I just want to see how you gonna dance when your neck get broke"
Styles:
"If you let the P call it, I don't feel your ass, I wish duke was still alive and they killed your ass"
During a heated email exchange today Bottle started spewing idealistic arguments about ethical government and how there is no need for oil. While I admire his Utopian ideals, I don't think they are realistic. We didn't want all this good material to go to waste here are some highlights...
Point-Counterpoint:
Obama is doing a shitty job and deserves to not be re-elected at this point.
So what do you think McCain and Palin would have done differently that would be better?
Obamacare and getting involved in Libya are his two big mistakes. He sucks... he's not in touch with the needs of the country... you know I am not a liberal-hating conservative... I feel like a have a fair view of the issues and his agendas. And he's clearly a socialist and a fake Christian... the former matters, the latter I don't care about (although I believe it's true).
But many of your personal viewpoints are compatible with Socialism....any of the unemployment checks you receive, school aid, all that stuff is by definition socialism.
I'm not against socialist initiatives, I just don't like that he incorporates aspects of it into his agendas and then acts like everyone is crazy when they point it out. It doesn't work to go half way, to try to incorporate progressive changes into the current system. It isn't compatible. Maybe incremental changes but not the type of commie stuff he supports (and most Americans despise)
This directly contradicts your previous statement that he should have "gone all the way" instead of doing it half ass within the existing system.
We definitely should not have bombed Libya, for so many reasons. So you're saying that we went in strictly for oil. That's not what Obama said.
There are lots of reasons not to bomb Libya, but our economy depends on oil too much. Would you be willing to pay $5 or $6 per gallon? The answer may be yes, but I don't think you fully understand the impact on the economy that oil has at the moment...right or wrong, it has dictated foreign policy in the middle east for many years.
Obama pulled a Bush, then used liberal gibberish to support it. Moving to Canada gets more appealing every day. You don't have to deal with nonsense like this... you have your health benefits covered and lap dances are $12... too bad it's so cold there.
Luckily I was able to selectively edit this to my liking, so many of bottle's comments are taken somewhat out of context to make him look like a whiny liberal.
It's time for Round 3 between the Knicks and the Celtics, this time with none of the buzz that preceded the last game. We all remember that game, the first Knicks game in years that everyone and their mother in New York watched (and a few people around the country on ESPN) only to be disappointed by that stupid scene up there (Paul Pierce did a victory lap around the Garden court without aid of a wheelchair) and an Amare three that came a split second too late.
You would think that the first game vs. the hated Celtics since the Balkman trade would have everyone in the city hyped up, but the Knicks crappy past week and a half have effectively killed any good feelings that would have us long suffering fans excited for a late March contest that didn't involve an office pool. 4 straight losses to garbage Eastern Conference teams (sandwiched around a 3 point happy win in front of a very drunk St. Patrick's day Garden crowd) will do that. Not to mention, the last 2 games have featured Carmelo going 2 for 12 and holeing up on the team bus instead of talking to the media (a faux pas in NY for sure), followed by a 9 point first quarter to the Bucks. THE BUCKS. I'm fairly certain that myself, Bottle and Snoot could score 9 points vs. Carlos Delfino and the Bucks*.
Luckily for the Bockers, the Celtics have been pretty up and down lately themselves, getting blown out by inferior teams and losing a few home games. A lot of their issues can be traced to the slumping play of their early season MVP, Rondo. Always an offensive liability (to put it nicer than I usually do), his game has dropped to near Jared Jeffries levels as of late (except for the passing ability and general quality as a human being that J.J. lacks). Over 3 games last week, Rajon shot 11 percent, and averaged 1.3 points a game. If he can give them anything offensively, then teams won't be able to use the Corky from Life Goes On defense on him. When Rondo plays well, the Celts are near impossible to beat.
I was talking about the Knicks recent success against the better teams the other day, but the way that they have been playing lately, I have trouble picking them to win tonight. Celtics by 7 or 8.
*We definitely could not.
On a personal note, this will be my last ever regular season game in my usual seats. It would be a shame to lose to Boston on this momentous occasion. I'll try to do some live updates from the game.
Just face it: the private sector runs everything. Financial companies can do absolutely horrible, lose all their money, and somehow the executives still end up receiving generous bonuses on top of their luxurious salaries. Need a bail out? Oh, just let the tax-payers take care of it - it's not like we have a bad economy and people are struggling to make ends meet.
Teachers are getting laid off; having their pay, benefits, and pensions cut; and generally being sent a message that they're worthless, little slimey worms. Somehow cops and firemen get off better when their jobs require a junior high school diploma. In the coming decades there are going to be shanty towns popping up all over the country, set up by former teachers who made like $12 a hour and no longer have pensions because the money was used to bail out financial companies, ensuring that bigwig executives don't have to lose their ski houses in Aspen.
If I have a kid one day, I may mold him into the greediest man on the planet. Screw your ideals, just go into the private sector, make a lot of money, then send your kids to private school like Governor Christie (the biggest teacher-basher) does. My kid is going to be like Michael Douglas in Wall Street. Crush your enemies and backstab your friends. I'll read him Ayn Rand before bed.
I feel like I've been fair. I've given Obama some time to operate as president before I passed judgement. I partially supported him before but now I can officially say: he really sucks. I'm voting Republican next election unless they run some real loser asshole.
Obamacare and getting involved in Libya are his two big mistakes. He sucks, he's not in touch with the needs of the country. I am not a liberal-hating conservative but he's clearly a socialist and a fake Christian... the former matters, the latter I don't care about (although I believe it's true).
Obamacare is a quasi-socialist agenda that he's trying to sell as consistent with the needs of the country. It's not. I would like univeral healthcare but it would take sweeping reforms... and if we decide to make those changes, it should probably be done when the economy is doing a little better.
I'm not against socialist initiatives, I just don't like that he incorporates aspects of it into his agendas and then goes and acts like everyone is crazy when they point it out. It doesn't work to go half way, to try to incorporate progressive changes into the current system (maybe incremental changes but not the type of commie stuff he supports and most Americans despise). It isn't compatible.
I went to a Dominican shower once upon a time (was dragged by the girlfriend) and vowed to never attend again. Although booze, music and dancing make it better than standard "white" baby showers, they're still miserable.
Some oversized, painfully pregnant woman dances in what loooks like slow motion due to the fact her cankles are beyond swollen. People get twasted (too twasted), and it makes them acting like dick heads acceptable. You become a victim to women talking about the time they were pregnant or what it would be like if they had kids. And finally, you deal with, "Oh, that's so cute," about 50 times for some stupid clothes the kid will wear for like a month before he poops all over it, barfs all over it, or just grows out of it.
I still think it was a shitty call. Let me rephrase, not so much that the call was wrong (a hack across the arm is obviously a foul) but the immensity of the moment dictates a little restraint by the official, don't you think? The last 10 seconds of last night's Pitt vs Butler game have already been dissected and analyzed to death and the overwhelming consensus seems to be that the right call was made. The strangest part about the whole thing is that there seems to be no controversy at all. Everyone agrees on this. Well, I'm not one to be contrary for the hell of it, but I think the refs should have let this one go.
I understand basketball purists will tell you that it was a stupid play by the kid for Pitt (and it was) and that a foul is a foul no matter the time in the game, but I think there should be some kind of discretion used when making a season deciding call. Namely, is this a foul that will impact the outcome of the game? I say no way.
Unlike the first dumb foul that preceded this dumb foul in which Pitt's Gilbert Brown was knocked off course on his way to a makeable three point attempt, had this foul not been called, nothing different would have happened in 1.4 seconds. Even if Matt Howard had rebounded the ball and was untouched, he wasn't going to throw in a game winner from the opposite end of the court. Nasir Robinson's foul didn't even keep Howard from corralling the rebound. At that point, the officials should swallow their whistles and let the teams battle it out in overtime to decide one of the biggest games of their lives.
"The revolution gets considerably more noisy when Smith Street is covered in sand, the petanque tournament gets into full swing, and the national TV networks descend on this little stretch of French Independence revelry". Known for sponsoring the annual Bastille Day party, Bar Tabac is the most French place you'll find outside of Paris. Upon ordering food, the waiter-in-super-tight-pants made a point to wink at me (which I assume he does to every customer, right????). The food was mediocre and, as expected, the crowd was kinda hipsterish. Although I didn't pick up on the scent of any smelly Europeans, I did notice a bunch of flies around the restaurant. They have live music on certain nights and most weekends (check out the website for a sample of the music). I haven't been there on a Friday or Saturday night but I assume it looks something like this:
If intent on checking it out, your best bet is to probably just go for coffee and some live music. Make sure to wear tight pants and a scarf.
