Color Theory in Sports

One of the fundamental classes for any artist is Color Theory. In this post, I'm going to apply its principles to sports.

During the Wimbledon tournament, players are required to wear white clothing on the court. The reason behind this is it create contrast to the green grass. Players can easily see each other, especially boosting peripheral vision. Imagine how difficult it would be if one player wore white and the opponent wore a shade of green that matched the grass. The green player would appear to be invisible to the white player. This rule should really apply to all tennis tournaments. That way the match can be determined by purity of skill... no handicaps and distractions.

There's a similar case in basketball too. Sometimes you'll see all of the home fans coordinate wearing white. This allows the home team to blend in with the background and appear invisible. It also makes the away team really stick out.

Noah 13

As expected, Oden & Durant went #1 & #2. Yi Jianlian went to Milwaukee as the 6th pick. Spencer Hawes & Joakim Noah were both available for Chicago at #9. Also as expected, the Bulls went for Noah. Based on the post workout interviews, I also felt that Noah was the best fit for Chicago's system. Much to Coach Skiles' delight, he's a hard working gym rat. By choosing Noah, the Bulls also continue their tradition of acquiring winners. Noah is not only a back-to-back NCAA champ, but comes from winning lineage. His father was a French Open Tennis champion and his mother was Miss Sweden. Hawes was more likely the missing inside presence the Bulls need, but team chemistry is the most important thing.

The Blazers will be a very improved team if they can successfully rebuild around Greg Oden. They also shipped out Zack Randolph to the Knicks for Steve Francis and Channing Frye. Frye has been one of the better players on the Knicks and is a rising star. If Francis can defer to Oden, this could be a very successful team. Although the Knicks seem to have the better end of this trade on paper, Randolph, the last of the Jailblazers is going to have to try extra hard to stay out of trouble in the big city.

It'll be interesting to see what happens from here. Will the Bulls package Noah and some bench guys for a veteran? Is the Kobe Bryant talk going to rise up again? Because the Garnett deal with the Lakers isn't looking good and Kobe is desperate to leave, he might become "cheaper." No matter what, I still don't want him on the Bulls. Even if he comes at the expense of a bunch of bench guys, he's still going to disrupt the chemistry that took years to build. One thing's for sure... July will be an interesting off-season month of trades!

Struggling with 500

After basketball season, the Yankees really picked up the pace. However they've reverted back to their losing ways again. They're stuck in a cycle of winning, then losing, and staying around the 500 hump. It just seems like they can't get over it. I remember the Bulls being in this situation for the past few years before this one. It was tough on us fans because our hopes would get raised up, then we'd get smacked back down. The Yankees have been a question mark of late. They could go out and beat the crap out of a top team or get blown out by one of the worst teams. Hopefully Chien Ming Wang can turn things around tonight. It's going to be a tough one because Wang is just an OK pitcher on the road (he's invincible in Yankee Stadium). He'll need some offensive support.

Subway Tales: Ones Come in Twos

"There's a train DI-rectly behind this one!"

How many times have we heard that one in NYC? Well... if that line comes from a 1 train conductor, he's telling the truth. The ones come in twos almost all the time, but most prominently during the rush. I've been using the 1 line for most of my life and have put this to the test many times. Very often, you'll see a station that's packed like sardines. Then everyone tries to jam themselves onto the next train. After that train leaves, another one arrives that's almost completely empty and free of summer, after work body odor! This tip has been tested at the following 1 stations... 23rd, 28th, 34th, 50th, 59th, 66th, 72nd, 86th, 96th... in both directions. It doesn't apply to 42nd street because the train always empties out there anyway.

So remember... if you see a crowded 1 train, be patient and catch the empty one that's right behind it.

Dell Macbook Killer

I took the previous Dell D630 I configured and changed a few things to compete with the Macbook I configured in May. All I did with the Macbook was chose the middle one and maxxed out the RAM to 2GB. So here are the specs summed up:

Macbook for $1474
2.16 Ghz Core 2
2 GB RAM
120 GB 5400 RPM HDD
8x DVD+-RW
64 MB Video RAM (shared memory)
1280x800 Native Resolution

With the Dell D630, just take my previous configuration and change the RAM to 2 GB / 2 DIMMs. Change the hard drive to 120 GB / 7200 RPM. Change the optical to DVD+-RW. That makes the price $1462. Here's the result:

Latitude D630 for $1462
2.20 Ghz Core 2
2 GB RAM
120 GB 7200 RPM HDD
8x DVD+-RW
64 MB Video RAM (shared memory)
1440x900 Native Resolution

As you can see, it beats or ties the Macbook in every category and has a lower price tag.

Pax's Assurance

"First of all, you can’t make a deal where you gut your team for one player where all of a sudden you don’t know if you’re any better or not. You can’t do that. Really, the ideal thing for us, if we’re going to make a significant move as a team, is to make a trade for a guy that fits."
- John Paxson

That was Bull's General Manager, John Paxson addressing the media today regarding the organization's stand on the Kobe Bryant & Kevin Garnett issues. After that, I can breath easy about keeping the Bull's core players intact. It's way too risky to deplete the starting line up for one guy. The Bull's are just one player away from a championship. They need to find the right missing piece. A Bryant or a Garnett would mean swapping out 4 or 5 effective pieces... not too smart. The Bulls also don't need to worry about selling tickets. They've been #1 in attendance for the past few years. So I'm happy where we are right now. We'll see what happens during the draft this Thursday and if there will be other players going through musical chairs.

Ten Random Chain Survey Questions for 2007-06-25

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:18am (a little earlier than usual)
2. Favorite ice cream? Colombian Coffee
3. What is your favorite TV show? Stargate SG-1
4. What did you have for breakfast? Sausage, egg & cheese on a roll; skim milk
5. What is your favorite cuisine? Italian & Indian
6. What food do you dislike? Anything that's considered a pet!
7. Your favorite Potato chip? Chili Cheese Pringles
8. Favorite sandwich? Monte Cristo
9. Favorite brand of clothing? Underarmour & Nike Pro
10. What laundry detergent do you use? Woolite Black

Dell Latitude D630

The goal of this configuration is to build an affordable laptop that will be good for modern daily life. This includes tasks such as graphics editing, amateur to intermediate video, surfing multimedia websites, music and watching movies. This system will also be easy to bring around. I chose the D630 because it's a 14" widescreen laptop that weights about 5 lbs. The base price is $949.

CPU: The 2.2 Ghz Core 2 is the best option because there's a huge jump in price for the 2.4 Ghz. Generally, I configure systems with the 2nd best processor of the time period. $1099

Windows: Windows XP Pro & Windows Vista Business both cost the same, so it depends on which one you feel comfortable with. XP Pro will run faster, but Vista Business will last longer into the future. $1099

LCD: For high resolution, choose the WXGA+ option. This is the one thing the other manufacturers don't offer. Dell is ahead of the market with display technology. $1129

RAM: This system can go up to 4 GB, but that adds a hefty $700 to the price. For now, I would go with the 2 GB 1 DIMM option. It goes halfway there and you can add the other DIMM later in the future. If you get 2 GB / 2 DIMMs, you'll have to throw out those units if you ever want to upgrade to 4 GB. $1485

Hard Drive: Choose the lowest capacity drive that's 7200 RPM. THe goal is to make this system as fast as possible. The faster it is, the longer it will survive future software upgrades. The capacity isn't a factor because this isn't going to be a media center PC. 80 GB is plenty. $1525

Optical Drive: I left this as the default option... a combo drive. I don't think laptops should be used for DVD authoring, so I usually don't configure them with DVD burners. Video conversions take too long and should be tasked to a desktop system. $1525

Video Card: The only reason to upgrade this to the 128 MB Nvidia card is to connect to a hi-res external monitor. I left it as default because the built-in WXGA+ at 1440x900 is plenty of desktop space. $1525

Wi-fi: I chose the lowest Intel option here. I went for Intel instead of Dell because of personal experience. My current laptop has an Intel Wi-fi card and it has no trouble connecting to any network (believe me, I've tested a lot of wi-fi cards and Intel is the best). $1554

Battery: A 9-cell primary is plenty of power. A true portable should be able to play one of the Lord of the Rings movies on a single charge. $1583

Not bad at all... $1583 for a powerful little system. This will beat any 14" or 15" preconfigured laptop you see at your local store.

Tech Deals of the Week (6/24-6/30)

PNY 2 GB Flash Drive for $19.98 @ Staples
The breakdown is $44.98 - $20 instant rebate - $5 mail-in rebate = $19.98. Any time a flash drive is $10/GB, it's a great price. I bought the 1 GB version a few months ago for $10. This drive is very reliable and comes with U3, a portable application manager.

SanDisk 4 GB FLash Drive for $39.99 @ RadioShack
This deal also fits my $10/GB rule. You can't go wrong with this one because there are no rebates involved.

Western Digital 160 GB EIDE Internal HDD for $39.99 @ Office Depot
The in-store price is $79.99 - $40 mail-in rebate. The 160 GB drives are rarely $40. So if you need a hard drive, now's the time to get one. Usually, the sale price for a 160 GB drive is $50. This is an extra $10 less.

Stargate SG-1 Series Finale (Unending)

It was a great story, but not as grand as they advertised. They didn't have a ensemble cast of characters from the 10 seasons, it was left open ended, nothing was really concluded and there was no epic battle. Some of this was expected because there was already news out about production of 2 Stargate SG-1 movies (either on Sci-Fi, direct to DVD or both). One of the movies will conclude the Ori Saga and has the entire cast signed on. So that told us that no one would die during the series finale and there would be no final battle with the Ori. What made the story great was the problem solving aspect of it. I thought that was well written and it combined many of the technological facts of the Stargate Universe. I just didn't think it felt like a series finale. But it did leave me longing for the first movie.

Congratulations to Stargate SG-1, the longest running Sci-Fi series in history! I enjoyed every episode of the 10 years. Stargate SG-1 combined science, art, history and fantasy in its storylines. The cast was multi-talented and entertaining. The special fx were cinema grade and a huge step up to everything else on TV. It was like watching a new Stargate movie every week.

Related Links: Cast Farewells, Unending

The Naturals

The Yankees are in the middle of a series with the San Francisco Giants. So now is a good time to mention my stand on Barry Bonds. I'm not really excited about this home run chase that's going on because it feels fake to me. The question will always remain... could he have done the same without the steriods? Within the next few weeks, Bonds will pass Hank Aaron for most career homeruns. Though he'll be #1 in the record book, truthfully, Hank Aaron is the true, natural home run leader. Years from now, it's likely that Alex Rodriguez will pass Bonds. And I hope he does... so that the career home run leader in the books will be a natural player.

By the same token, I believe that Roger Maris and his 61 homers is still the single season home run king because he did it naturally. He earned his 61 with batting practice and working out... no shortcuts, performance enhancements, or modified equipment.

They can write what they want in the record books. When Judgement Day comes, Hank Aaron and Roger Maris are the true home run kings!

Dell Laptops Rule All

We all know Dell as a computer manufacturer, but over the years they've also perfected their LCD technology. Their UltraSharp series is so crisp that it's as close to a CRT as a flat panel can get. This quality translates to their laptops as well. Dell laptops can step up the resolution one or two notches over their competition. A 15" widescreen laptop has a standard resolution of 1280x800. Dell has options for 1440x900 & 1680x1050!

Dell's purchase process also has more flexibility than it competitors. Most other companies have a few preconfigured systems and they only let you customize upward. Dell offers a variety of options and you can add and subtract to your needs.

Dell systems can be easily brainwashed. By this I mean that you can reformat your Dell and rebuild the whole system without the default crapware. A lot of manufacturers these days just offer a backup image of the factory default so you'd never be free of their crapware and default settings. Sony even embeds their image right on the hard drive. So what happens when the hard drive dies out?

Stay tuned for some Dell laptop configurations.

K is for Strikeout

The Kobe & KG trade rumors are starting to get more real. The Bulls are one of the top teams involved in the rumors because many think that they are one star away from a championship. I'm still hoping the Bull's organization carefully probes the personalities & egos. If Kobe is acting this unprofessional right now, what's to stop him from doing the same when the Bulls go on a losing streak? This type of attitude is the exact opposite of what the Bull's stand for. The Bulls give it 100% whether they're blowing a team out or are getting blown out. Two years ago, the Bulls had a 26-point deficit in the 4th quarter against the Pistons. They lost that game by 2 points... 2 points! What would Bryant do in that situation? Give up and go to the locker room? Demand a trade? Fight with Coach Skiles? Start elbowing the Pistons?

Let's say this happens... Bryant goes to the Bulls in exchange for Gordon, Deng, Thomas and the 9th pick (for kicks, I'm going to make that Yi). This swap will make the Bulls more like the 2006-2007 Lakers... an 8th seed or lower. While it will make the Lakers a real contender, especially under Phil Jackson. Imagine how much damage Gordon and Deng would do in an offensive-minded Western Conference. The athleticism of all four Bulls would create a powerful triangle offense. Gordon would be a combo guard. Deng could be a guard or small forward. Thomas would be the power forward. Yi would be a backup power forward that could explode off the bench and could easily switch starting roles with Thomas. The young talent, Bynum would be in the middle. Vujacic would be a longer guard to compliment Gordon. The Bulls would have Bryant, Hinrich, Wallace, Nocioni & PJ brown which looks great on paper, but I think there would be Chemistry problems and not enough offense. Bryant could average 50 points a game, but the other players would get cold. With this setup, Hinrich would have too much pressure. He would need to be the primary passer and secondary scorer.

KG... I have nothing against KG's personality. He's one of the good guys in the NBA and he might even pass the ego hurdle. But I don't think any combination of a core player + a backup equals KG. Deng + someone is the likely scenario. Deng isn't as good as KG, but he's making huge leaps each year... and he's only 22 years old. Maybe Noc + some bench guys for KG. I can live with that, but I don't think the Wolves would go for it.

Another reason why the Bull's team should not be disrupted is because they're deep and well-rounded. There's a different hero every night. They take pressure off each other by playing together. Gordon and Hinrich play so well together because either one can be point or shooting. When one guy is having an off night, there's always someone to take over. Often enough, the scoring leader comes off the bench. With 12 good players, the Bulls just need 2 guys on fire to win a game. If you look at the stats, most of their games have 5 or more guys in double figures, but no one with more than 30 points. They don't have individual leaders other than Wallace's defensive stats, but their team stats are unbelievable. The moment you throw a star in, a hole is created in the team's depth. 3 skilled bench guys will become 3 scrubs. If Bryant has an off-night, there's no one to fall back on.

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed... no Bryant and no Garnett in Chicago!

UFC KFC

Location: 71-22 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights
Transportation: 7 train to 69th or 74 Street; E, F, V, R to 74th Street
Cuisine: Korean, American
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-11pm; Sun 12pm-10pm
Phone: 718-205-6662
Website: www.ufchicken.com
Prices: About $6-10 per person

Food: 8
Service: 8
Value: 6
Environment: 6

Visits: 5 (for takeout)

It's UFC, but not Ultimate Fighting Championships. This is Unidentified Flying Chickens or as I like to call it... KFC for Korean Fried Chicken! True to their tagline, the taste really IS out of this world. Owner, Young Jin has come up with a unique recipe for fried chicken unlike what you would normally get at an American restaurant. It's not overly breaded like KFC and has a truly original taste to it. There are 4 flavors... hot, soy-garlic, spicy mustard and sweet & spicy. The soy-garlic is "plain" option. It's the one I've had the most experience with because we usually get this for family dinners and no one else in my family can take spicy food. The soy-garlic has a nice, light flavor too it and isn't overly greasy. The skin is thin and crispy. The hot flavor tastes like spicy Chinese food (that orange stuff), but on a crispy fried chicken. I have yet to try the other 2 flavors. This place is also one of few in Queens that serves sweet potato fries.

Please keep in mind that this restaurant is NOT a fast food place. That's a little strange because we're so accustomed to seeing fried chicken places as fast food restaurants. This tends to work against them during busy hours. Unidentified Flying Chickens cooks everything fresh, so you can expect a 15-minute wait for the chicken orders.

I gave the environment a 6 because of the external appearance. There's a lot of construction at the area right now, but it's no fault of the restaurant. Once you walk inside, the interior design is clean, futuristic & sci-fi! This place is losing some business because of the construction, so please check it out and give it a try. It's very much worth the trip, the wait and the price. Let's keep this place up and running!

Related Links: Amusing Bouche's Blog, Avenue Food, The Food Section, New York Times, Unidentified Flying Chickens

Wang Adds to His Arsenal

It was another great outing for Chien Ming Wang as he continued his winning ways, tying the season series against the Mets and pitching a near-complete game (Myers got the last out). Like the typical Wang game, there were a lot of double-play setups, but the infield got a bit of a break this time as Wang struck out 10 batters. In the minors, Wang had the tools to be just about any type of pitcher. Stepping up into the majors, the Yankees had him concentrate on his sinker. For the past few seasons, he's earned a reputation as a ground ball specialist, setting up DPs, racking up assists and keeping homers to a minimum. It seems like he's starting to work his other skills into his MLB arsenal, which will allow him to change strategy and throw off opposing teams' scouting reports. I look forward to many more Wang victories up ahead. His consistency is going to make the chase for the division lead easier.

Acer AL2216Wbd @ Office Depot

Price: $199.99 after $70 mail-in rebate
Dates: Sun, June 17 through Sat, June 23

This is the lowest I’ve ever seen the 22” widescreen by Acer. The normal price of this runs from $270-300, which is OK for a monitor of this size. I was almost going to post this entry by mentioning the great $248 price tag at Directron until I came across this week’s Office Depot circular and saw it for $200!

While I don't have firsthand experience with this model, I’ve been using the 19" sibling for about 2 months now. The quality is great, especially through DVI. Both my Mac and PC look good on it. Another major plus about Acer is they include the DVI cable. Many manufacturers don’t. This cable is worth around $20.

Note: If you plan on getting this, make sure your graphics card has at least 64 MB RAM and it supports a 1680x1050 native resolution (some older cards don’t).

Related Links: Acer, Directron, Office Depot

Silver Dragons: About This Blog's Design

The design of this blog started with Blogger's Thisaway Blue template, but was heavily customized. The only remnant elements are the background gradient and arrow leftnav graphic which will probably be replaced in the future. The main highlight of Azrael of NYC's design is the top navigation. It was built to act more like a website rather than a blog. The tabs link to the main "labels" of the blog and create virtual site sections. The look of the tabs is influenced by Apple's old cocoa design (they just redesigned for Leopard last week) in that it has a glasslike look. The background is made up of a silhouetted skyline often used to represent NYC. The two silver dragons, which are vectorized versions of an old sketch from the college days, add a Medieval flavor. The title was given a metallic texture since it's the highlight and needs to be brought up to the foreground.

A Stack of Ones

Technology creates convenience for us, but also backfires and forms bad habits. I came across a classic example this morning while standing on line at a bank. The teller called for the next person. A woman wearing headphones took a few steps toward the teller and started fiddling with her iPod for the longest time. The teller was waiting as were about five other people on line. After she was done, she handed the teller a stack of $1 bills at least six inches thick! That cracked me up!

Regarding iPods in public: First of all, the white earbuds scream, "I have an iPod. Rob me!" And second, since you're already advertising for people to rob you, you're making it twice as easy by blasting away and cutting yourself off from surrounding sounds.

Regarding cellphone 100% uptime: Don't use your phone will driving. It's against the law. Don't use your cellphone while walking. You're slowing down, but just don't realize it. And no... you can't multitask efficiently, human. Did we forget how we lived without these things. It's not the end of the world if you miss a call!

And the Bulls beat the Knicks... AGAIN!

Oh wait... that wasn't the Bulls and Knicks. The Chicago Sky beat the NY Liberty just a few hours ago. I guess I enjoyed the consistent schooling of the Knicks by the Bulls so much that it carried over to the WNBA too. Of course this victory wasn't as interesting because the Liberty had good sportsmanship. They didn't complain about the Sky playing hard in the final seconds. Maybe the Knicks can pick up a thing or two from their female counterpart... lose, but don't lose sorely... and who knows... you might just get a Big Mac!

Finals Recap

My prediction turned out to be way wrong, but I always have to have confidence in the team I'm rooting for. Deep down I knew the Spurs had a higher chance of winning. I just wanted to see something spectacular from LeBron James. In a way, making it to the Finals was pretty spectacular already. Kobe can't do it without Shaq. D-Wade can't do it without Shaq. Melo had Iverson and couldn't do it. James did it all by himself. James is a great player and will only get better. I'd be more of a fan if he was a Bull though... two more years to wait!

Tony Parker was awesome in the Finals and it was clear that he would be the MVP. Without his heroics, there's no way it would've been a sweep... maybe Cleveland would've even won. Even though I was rooting for the East coast, I'm not bothered by the Spurs victory. They're a bunch of good guys (mostly) that play basketball the right way. I'm happy that Tony Parker is ending the season on a high note, going into his wedding. Tim Duncan is always a class act. Michael Finley finally got a ring after getting close a few times. I'm a little bugged that Robert Horry has 7 rings now though. He was never really a key player on any team. He just made one memorable shot as a Laker. He just has a knack for weaseling on to the right team at the right time!

Mi Nidito Cantina Mexicana

Location: 852 8th Ave. (btw 51st & 52nd St)
Cuisine: Mexican, Vegetarian
Hours: Daily 11:30am-11:30pm
Phone: 212-265-0022
Website: www.miniditoonline.com
Prices: About $15-20 per person
Credit Cards: All major

Food: 8
Service: 8
Value: 6
Environment: 6

Visits: 1 (eat-in)

Paul and I met up for dinner after work in Midtown West. I arrived earlier and started to scout the area and look things up on Vindigo. I brought up the vegetarian category since Paul is a pure vegetarian and was surprised to see Mi Nidito Cantina Mexicana. When Paul arrived, I showed him the entry and we both wanted to take a look out of curiousity. Neither of us had ever been to a Mexican vegetarian place before.

We checked out the menu after arriving at the entrance, and it wasn't actually a vegetarian restaurant. That was just what Vindigo listed it as, but they had a large number of vegetarian options. I'd say at least one third of their menu is vegetarian, which makes it a great place for omnivores like myself and herbivores like Paul to eat together.

I ordered the Steak Chili Verde. The meat soaked in green salsa was nice and tender. The spiciness was just right and portions were large. Paul had the mushroom chili and enjoyed it as well. He usually has trouble ordering new things, but I advised him to go with a mushroom dish. When I eat vegetarian, I tend to go with mushroom dishes because they're flavorful and have a smooth texture.

The restaurant staff was friendly and helpful. They explained some of the dishes to us and always made sure our glasses of water were full. The music was a bit loud though, which also caused everyone in there to speak at a higher tone.

Yi in Chi?

Yi Jianlian is projected to be somewhere from the 9th to 15th pick in the first round of the NBA Draft, which puts him around Chicago's 9th pick courtesy of the NY Knicks and the Eddy Curry trade. I would love to see him on the Bulls just because they are a largely international team and a Chinese player would just give them one more continent! It's probably not realistic though since the Bulls don't have a need for that type of player. Yi is a tall, athletic player who brings energy and violent, aerial dunks. Sound familiar? I like to compare him with Tyrus Thomas. They both have similar tools. Yi has a higher basketball IQ and better range, but Thomas wins on the freak-o-meter. It would be tough to choose between the two if I had to, but I would pick Thomas over Yi just because the "freakish" athleticism is more rare. And also, I'd like to see the Bulls build on the team that they have. I just hope Thomas becomes an all-star and not the next Tyson Chandler. Wherever Yi ends up, he'll certainly help his team. It's so rare to see a 7-footer with aerial moves like his. Maybe with some time in the gym, he can be as freaky as Tyrus Thomas!

On a side note, the Bulls international squad includes: Ben Gordon (England), Luol Deng (Sudan and England), Andres Nocioni (Argentina and Italy), Thabo Sefolosha (Switzerland), Viktor Khryapa (Russia), Martynas Andriuskevicius (Lithuania). They're one of the only teams in the Eastern conference that does a good job with international scouting.

Related Links: Bull's Draft Central 2007, Yi Jianlian Draft Profile, YouTube Clips

At Slumps' End

During the past few series, a number of Yankees who were slumping have awakened. Johnny Damon, Bobby Abreu, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano have returned offensively and defensively. This has put the Bronx Bombers in the right direction again. They've got to take it one step at a time now. First... aim for 500 and maintain it. Then go after the wild card. And eventually aim for the division. With everyone hitting the way they are, this lineup can actually be more dangerous than last year's Murderer's Row.

Wang and Pettitte have been consistent with their pitching. Mussina, Clemens and Clippard have been OK. If these 3 can step it up a level, the Yankees will have a great rotation. That will carry over to Rivera's performance as well. I think Rivera is still the best closer out there. It's just an odd year because of the lack of save opportunities. The middle relief is still weak though. We'll have to see if something happens before the trade deadline.

The Yankees just added number 6 to their current winning streak. Sweeping the Pirates was a good start in their interleague run, but there's a long way to go and they need to keep this streak going. As they beat up on the National League, the Red Sox will likely do the same. The Diamondbacks and the Big Unit are next.

Introduction to Leisure

I'm going to use this section mostly for logging restaurants, stores and attractions that I visit. A lot of the entries will just be in NYC since I don't currently have any vacations planned. For each venue, I will list general information, rate a few categories on a scale of 1 to 10 (where 10 is the best) and go over my experience of the place of interest. I'm also including a new stat that no other review uses (that I know of). I'm going to mention the number of times I've visited the place at the time of review.

I hope you find this helpful and entertaining.

Enjoy!

El Rey de Clay

Rafael Nadal remained undefeated in Roland Garros, defeating Roger Federer in 4 sets. It's really amazing how this 21 year old has mastered the clay surface. It's almost as if the court was part of his body. Many of his winners today were hit to perfect spots, just skimming the inside of the boundaries.

From the other point of view, Federer just can't seem to get over this one hill. He's mastered everything else and is just stuck on French clay. He'll likely get his revenge on the grass of Wimbledon, but will have to wait another year to attempt to overthrow the King of the French Open.

As for the Americans who dropped like flies... why not get their rich butts together and build a practice clay court so they can at least go a few rounds deeper in the coming years?

Related Sites: Rafael Nadal's Official Site, Roger Federer' Official Site, Roland-Garros

World Series in Roland Garros

The stage is set for Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but I think they should reconfigure the French Open format. Why not just have Federer and Nadal play each other in a best of 7... or best of 9 series. Let's just forget about the other players and cut to the chase! They're ranked #1 & #2, but miles ahead of #3 and were expected to be in the finals on the clay French Open. It should be a good match tomorrow.

10th Inning Surrender

The Yankees just finished up a very exciting game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was back and forth all night and tied into the bottom of the 10th inning. Cano almost ended the game with homer, but it just hit the top of the wall and bounced back in for a double. Cabrera hit a sac fly to advance Cano to third. Cairo then got a base hit. The Pirates opted to walk Damon to get to Jeter. That had to be one of the most bone-headed decisions I've ever seen! Of course I was very happy about that. Naturally the Yankees won on a Jeter hit. The Pirates loaded up the based for the best clutch hitter in baseball. What did they expect to accomplish? That's like putting blood in the water for a shark... it's like double-teaming Harper so that Jordan could take the final shot.

Anyway, the Yankees have 4 in a row now! They have to take advantage of this Interleague trip they're on. This is their chance to put together a nice winning streak to get back into the race.

Waking Up After Basketball

Since basketball is my top priority, I don't pay too much attention to baseball until the NBA Finals are over with. I don't even watch every Yankee game until then. For the past couple of years, the Yankees have had slow starts, but have also pulled off amazing 2nd halves to get into the post-season. This year isn't looking great for them. I just hope it follows the same pattern as last year and they start winning when I start watching them more carefully. The NBA Finals will last around 2 weeks. Will the Yankees wake up soon? I always have faith in my teams, so I have to believe that they'll pull it off. Derek Jeter never stops playing hard. So it would be disrespectful as a fan to give up on the Yankees.

Soldiers Win Wars... Kings Take Credit

ACHILLES: The battle was won by soldiers. The soldiers know who fought.

AGAMEMNON: History remembers the kings, not the soldiers. Tomorrow we'll batter down the gates of Troy. I'll build monuments to victory on every island of Greece, and carve Agamemnon in the stone. My name will last forever. Your name is written in the sand, for the waves to wash away.

ACHILLES: First you need the victory.


That was from the movie, Troy, but it speaks the truth when applied to the office. Large companies recognize the managers and forget about the creative professionals who do all of the real work. It's the programmers, designers and writers that work hard, use their brains to solve problems and their skills to execute. When all of the dirty work is done, the manager is the one who gets recognized by upper management because he/she is good at speaking (but has no real skill attributes). It's then the manager who gets the awards, bonuses and pay increases. Some of these people go through the years without even giving credit to the soldiers. How can these people live with themselves?

I can't say that's true about all managers, but it's certainly the majority. There are those out there who give back to the soldiers. Those are the managers who gain the respect and loyalty of their followers.

Join or Oppose the Reign?

Lebron James is a division rival and he's the only player that the Bulls have no answer for. This year, the Bulls added a number of players that were long and athletic for the purpose of dealing with Lebron James in the Central Division. This defensive upgrade proved effective against players like Wade and Bryant, but was just swiss cheese for James. All of this adds up to a Michael Jordan from an alternate reality where he joined the Cavs and kills the BUlls (instead of vice versa).

Why I Cheer for Lebron

For the first time since 1998, a player reminds me of Michael Jordan. Though he doesn't have the consistency yet, the talent is there and the personality is there. It's just hard not to like this guy as a player and human being. So in that sense, I'd like to see him win a championship and get a Finals MVP.

Why I Want Lebron to Lose

In a dream scenario, James has a great season playing for a bad team. He either doesn't make the playoffs or gets eliminated early. This continues to happen for 2 more seasons. He feels disappointed as his contract comes to completion. The Bulls sign him up without dealing away talent in a blockbuster trade. James, Hinrich, Gordon, Deng and Wallace start the next Bull's Dynasty.

King of the East

Cavaliers Defeat the Favored Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals!

I called it 2 days ago, didn't I? And everyone I mentioned it to still had doubts. I felt tonight's game was going to be the final game. Lebron continued to lead the team with confidence and his teammates really stepped up.

Here were a few of my predictions from the Eastern Conference:

• Bulls over the Heat in 5 (Bulls swept)
• Bulls over Detroit in 7 (Detroit over Bulls in 6)
• Cavs over Detroit in 6 (got that one)

And in the West, I didn't really predict to a granular level. I knew San Antonio would win the whole conference before the playoffs even began despite most analysts choosing Phoenix or Dallas. I kind of thought Phoenix or Dallas would be in the conference finals with San Antonio though. I never imagined the Mavs getting swept.

Prediction for the Finals? Everyone is picking the Spurs. So I'm going to say something crazy. The Cavaliers will take it in 6! One man can outperform 5 when that one man is THE Chosen One.

Related Sites: Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James' Official Site

Stargate Atlantis 317 (Sunday)

Sunday bears a striking resemblance to Heroes (Episodes 717 & 718 of Stargate SG-1). They both had a dual storyline... one which built heavily on one of the secondary characters and another which concentrated on a dangerous threat. Both built-up to shocking endings. I was very surprised at the Heroes ending because the way they promoted the episode was as if Col. O'Neill was going to die. He was actually missing for much of the Heroes episode. Then in the end, they revealed that it was Frasier who was killed in battle. While watching Sunday, I started to get a strange feeling because they were giving Dr. Carson Beckett a lot of screen time and really going deep into his character. It felt just like Heroes. And I was right... it pretty much ended the same way.

While the story line was great and the build-up was suspenseful, I really didn't like the idea of repeating the same thing with the Atlantis series. I also felt that they would keep Beckett around because he's gone off-world with the team a lot. He was a much more useful character than McKay because he had the intelligence and courage. I'll definitely miss him as I missed Janet Frasier on Stargate SG-1. At least the series gave their characters excellent send-offs. Both doctors died while saving a patient. But as we all know with the sci-fi genre, characters can always return!

Related Links: Heroes, Sunday

Storming the Palace

Did I just see Michael Jordan in a Cavs uniform?

I just "witnessed" the greatest NBA playoff performance since game 6 of the 1998 Finals. King James is unbelievable! I kept thinking if it would be possible for one man to take on five. He's taken his team this far and he's continuing to do it against the best defensive team in the league!

The fade-away 3's... blowing past an entire squad... lightning fast dunks... off-balanced shots... hang-time layups... that just felt like Michael Jordan.

One more to go... final game on Saturday. Then it's off to San Antonio!