Not Breaking When You're Broken........

Friday I came down with some kind bug. I was not feeling too well in the morning but I've had a good history with my health so I was pretty arrogant about thinking I could pull through the day by taking a few meds(no not with wine....haha mf's). Anyways around 2pm ish I am messed up. And I mean really messed up. Probably never been more messed up in my life. I had to go home. I was shivering, I was dizzy, it was just a total disaster. On my way home, taking the TTC, I was hallucinating probably about to faint(and possibly die if I did), and my brain was thinking weird thoughts because it was probably fried. I also experienced some new sensations that I've never before when I was sick like a strange tingling and numbing throughout my body. I was kinda worried. I got home and I know you're supposed to take a cold bath to bring down the fever but I was freezing so stupidly I took a hot bath(again not thinking properly cuz brain fried). I guess luckily for me with some more meds and crazy blanketage my fever broke.....sorta, well I started getting better anyways. I must say I learned my lesson from this experience(Shaun loves it when people learn their lessons. He's cursing right now "Fucking right you did"). Don't mess with mother nature. Just cuz your immune system is a little better than the average person doesn't mean you're scott free. She'll get you and get and how!!!



Something good did come out of this experience. My mom and my sister hearing of my malady, made me some hot soup and bought some gingerale(apparently there is no imperical evidence to support that gingerale helps with colds and flus. I read it was medical myth. Well it was the thought that counted right?) and brought it to my place. It thawed my cold cold heart a just little(for a few minutes at least). Then I went to being bitter again. Oh well.


You've probably seen the new Jordan ads on TV. "Become Legendary".
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aCRS0hQctus
I enjoy these ads as I do most Air Jordan commercials. There is a short segment in this ad that features Chris Paul. Chris Paul was a great high school player and a big time collegiate player. Although he was selected 5th(I think) he was projected to go earlier and be the first point guard in the drafted that year. Deron Williams beat him to that those titles and Utah(the team that drafted Deron received much criticism which has somewhat died down because of how good Deron has become). Back to Paul. Paul has been absolutely lights out this season. He is probably on the very short list of about 4 players who deserve to be MVP this year(KG, Kobe, Nash). I remember back in the day hearing the story about how he dropped 61 in high school in memory of his granpa who passed on. Absolutely sick. See what he does at the end. http://youtube.com/watch?v=UMHfbjh6UbQ.

"Chiming" in on the Shaq trade

The Phoenix Suns and the Miami Heat pulled off a "blockbuster" trade today sending Shaquille O'Neal to the Suns while the Heat received Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. My initial thoughts were that the Heat got the better of the deal by unloading a once great player at the tail end of his career. But looking closer it may not be as lopsided as some would have you believe. Let's look at some stats.

Shaq gp-32, pts-14.2, reb-7.8, ast-1.4, fgpct-.581

Marion gp-47, pts-15l8, reb-9.9, ast-2.1, fgpct-.526

Although Shaq is clearly having the worst season of his career, he is still putting up solid numbers. Also keep in mind he has been playing injured and unmotivated. I believe a move to the desert will miraculously heal alot of the those nagging injuries and motivation will no longer be an issue when playing with the likes of Steve Nash. Furthermore, Nash will probably elevate those numbers to a much higher efficiency.

So we've established that Suns still got a quality player in return but what do they gain and what do they lose. Hard to argue that little needed to be changed to arguably the best team in the West. So what do they lose with Marion's parting? Marion is probably their second best perimeter defender and their best transition finisher. But the Suns can fill that void fairly well with Grant Hill providing he stays healthy. I doubt anyone would ever mistake the Suns as a very good defensive team but they might be better than most people think. They are holding opponents to .450 fgpct this year good for tenth best in the league. They are also second in the league in 3pt fgpct against at a very solid .333. The Suns defensive deficiencies come from inside the arc where they allow opponents to shoot .477. They are also worst in the league in rebounding differential. Alot of that has to do with size. As good a defender as he was on the perimeter, Marion often got pwned inside. The presence of the Shaq will immediately shore up defensive rebounding and interior defense. Remember the Laker Championship teams? They were among the league leaders in rebounding. Furthermore I believe that Marion's stats without Nash will drop tremendously. Maybe his scoring goes up but watch his fgpct drop similar to what Kev shoots.

If O'Neal stays healthy his scoring, rebounding and effienciency should all go up. The Suns half court offense becomes ultra deadly with all 40% 3pt shooters surrounding O'Neal. With Shaq still shooting close to 60% from the field, he should still command lots of double teams. That was another weakness of Marion's. As good as we was in transition and close to the basket, he was a poor 3pt shooter @ .327. Most of the those were open looks. Aside from age and health, there is also a concern with how Shaq will coexist with Amare. Many teams have failed to get alot better after acquiring several superstars because their games were redundant. Boston has done a great job of not falling into that trap by getting 3 all stars whose games compliment each other or basically don't interfere with each other. So is there a danger that Shaq's game interefering with Amare's? I don't necessarily believe this to be true. Although Amare is known for his inside presence, he is still mostly a face up offensive player whereas Shaq is a purely back to the basket player. Amare will still occupy almost all the pick and roll plays with Nash. He is also moves well without the ball as do most Sun players because they're used to playing with Nash. O'Neal has always been a solid passer in the post and I believe Amare can easily slip into that small power forward role where is does alot of slashing to the basket off Shaq double teams.

I do believe Suns can be a better team with this trade. But I also believe a 36 year old Shaq is unstable physically. If he can't play, then the Suns just traded away one of their best players for nothing. The West just got a little more intriguing.

The Blog is back...........Fuck you Al

-Back when TJ Ford went down I was so angry I almost posted.....almost. The Raptors as a team really disappointed me. Since then they have not been any more impressive. They are a skilled team of wusses. Fucking Sam Mitchell got up to yell at the Refs. Are you fucking kidding me. What did they do? It's not their fault. Go after Horford. The only player on the court who I forgave was Anthony Parker who was right by TJ at the time and immediately went to TJ's side. As for the rest of the Raptors on the floor, they should have gone after Al Horford and if not have attempted to fight him, at the very least yell obscenities, point fingers and push him in confrontational fashion. Well TJ is back. I'm happy for him. The toughest Raptor. We need him. I would cry.....if I was a girl.

-Raptors vs Lakers Feb 01/08 - Standing Room? What is this? Yo I don't claim to be rich but I make more than minimum wage. Fucking ridiculous.

-Thoughts on growing old and having a better relationship with the folks. I must say things have never been better between me and my parents. I'm somewhat surprised and happy at this development. My friend Shaun(name dropping) brought up several interesting points himself. Things I attribute to this golden era of peace:

1. Obedience - To parents obedience=love. If you obey they love you more. If they tell you to do something don't think too much. Just do it. It keeps the peace. Peace is good. The bible also says the same thing. Who knew?
2. Self-Sufficiency - They nag and yell at you because they love and as a child you had no choice but to take their crap no matter how unfair. Well now that you are on your own or can live on your own you don't have to take their crap anymore. If they piss you off, you leave and don't talk to them for 3 months(not that one should do this but the point is you can). That gives you a power they have to respect.
3. ABC - A Always B be C closing. Now that you have been working for a few years you should realize how the business world operates else you're probably a moron. You may not like it but people who kiss ass get ahead. That's right, in a way your parents are kinda like your boss. Compliement them, do things for them that they don't ask for and see the results. They love that shit. They eat it up by the spoonful. Just cuz you're a good person doesn't mean they can see that. You have to be good to THEM. Advertise and Finish!

-Basketball Notes. Chin explains that his Cardio shit on Sunday makes him feel so good physically, mentally, emotionally etc. It's all good. I got no beef with him and his cardio on sundays. Everything he said about his cardio also applies to Sunday morning ball(for me) except Sunday morning ball is shared btween friends. There is also one more thing his Cardio work out doesn't have. Team ID punkage and smack. Smack means nothing if you weren't there(this my friend is priceless). But y'know there is apparently some hot chick he's eyeing on Sunday mornings. He has to see about a girl(no problem). Good luck with that my friend. I am not Shaun and I refuse to CB. Just don't put the pussy on a pedestal.....who keeps saying that?

........It's how you finish

Maybe I didn't give a fair description of Joy so I'm going to wrap this up and tell you a little bit more about her. I know I felt sorry for her sometimes, but more than that I have so much respect for her. I admired her work ethic, her morality, her generosity, her compassion and her kindness. She did so much for me and I feel like there is really not enough I can do to repay her. I know I will never forget her warmth. She tolerated my arrogance, self righteousness, apathy and was always there when I needed her. I can't say the same. I know I'm better off because she was in my life. I really hope she finds happiness because I think I haven't met a human being who deserves it more. Of all the souls I have come across in my life, there has been no individual I have respected or has inspired me more. I will always be thankful for that. I don't know what the future holds but I pray that she will still be part of my life always.

Haha I suck some more

I couldn't update for more than 2 days straight. Eff this shit........I went to this restaurant on Dixie and Dundas called "Kotalia"(I think). Anyways, it's food comprised of both Korean and Italian food(insert puzzled look here). That's right, obviously the most natural food combination that hasn't been tried yet. It sucked. It sucked ass. It isn't actually a fusion restaurant in which Korean and Italian food was mixed together(as strange as that would be, I would have preferred that). Nope they just make crappy Korean food(subjective) and crappy Italian food(fact...... cuz no one goes to a Korean restaurant to eat good Italian food). Reminds me of the time I went to a Carribean place at the Sherway Gardens food court. I should have known right away by the Chinese people who tried to sell me that shit. I couldn't even understand what the hell they were saying. Now the food wasn't half bad(pause), if you were ordering Chinese food. That shit was just Chinese food packaged as Carribean food. Gimme my money back biatch!!!!!!!!!!! Mental note, I've learned my lesson.............Team ID has started a Wiki site. Awesome. Almost 30 and the antics never end................Christmas shopping is tedious and expensive....................Bought movie "Ninja Scroll". In retrospect(or revisionist history, whichever you prefer), it was a decent movie.................Watched Manny Pacquiao destroy Erik Morales(sick). For some reason the PPV was delayed but we stayed up to watch it. Started at 1:30am and finished at 4:30(can't do this shit no more). Al and Cathy both stayed up the whole time. I was more suprised and impressed by them than Pacquiao. On the flip side, Chin and Shaun couldn't stay up and well I couldn't really see Alison(she was probably turned sideways or something).

How much longer can this go on?

Yet another post for my huge fan base. Once again I didn't do anything.............Cleaned the house a little.........Checked Fastbreak and I'm in dead last but I guarantee you I won't end be there by the end of the season. Saw the trailer for "300". It looks awesome. Stem cell reseach, a miracle cure for all diseases or an unethical science? Think about it. My brain hurts so I don't want to.

More useless updatage

As promised here is another useless post. Yesterday, I worked late and then ate Wendy's for dinner. I think it was one of their new burgers. It sucked because I think the meat was undercooked, which is rare to see at a fast food restaurant because of their fear of repercussions. Anyways, I can just imagine some new guy cooking the food with no supervisor there to check if it was cooked properly and all the other Wendy's monkey's not giving a shit. "Hey I just work here". Laugh, I've used that line many a time.........Monday night football's new commentators suck. I miss Al Michaels. Can't get enough of those Black play by play guys who don't have any trace of the black vernacular in their lingo. ie John Saunders, Mike Tirico(is this guy Italian), Bryant Gumbel, Greg Gumbel, Lynn Swann, etc etc.....the game sucked so I flipped thru the other channels and found restaurant makeover(one of the greatest shows on tv). I think it was a season 3 episode cuz I didn't recognize the designer. Where's Cheri Stinson?.......... I got laid 6 hours ago. With whom you ask? "Don't worry, you don't know her"...........the new female host on BT is super hot. In fact she is way too hot for Kevin. It's like they don't really belong together. Either Kevin has to be much better looking or much uglier(like those Italian variety shows). Their chemistry is still off. I miss Liza.