Australian Open Champs

Serena Williams
Serena had a tough road to the finals this year. In the quarters, she nearly lost to Azarenka, but pulled an amazing comeback in the second set and then sweep the final. She won 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. Then she had marathon match against Na Li, who is making milestone step every year. Li is probably on pace to win a major next season. Serena won 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 to setup a final with the former #1, Justine Henin. Henin looked like she was in top form and was very aggressive at the start of the match. Serena did the right thing and didn't fall asleep. Henin might've had an entire year off, but she "retired" at the top and didn't have any rust for the entire tournament. She also had a much smoother trip to the finals than Serena. Serena ended with the win 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, adding another trophy to her collection and going up by 2 in her record against Henin. The Williams sisters also won the doubles tournament... as usual.

Roger Federer
The men's side looked a little scrambled up. Federer had a good run as he usually does, but some of the other regulars didn't make it. Nadal had to retire against Andy Murray. Cilic defeated Roddick and Tsonga defeated Djokovic. And that setup a final between Federer and Murray. Federer doesn't seem to have a hard time in any final when he's not facing Nadal... with the exception of that marathon in last year's Wimbledon against Roddick. It looked like another routine win for him after a 6-3 1st and 6-4 2nd, but the 3rd set was very exciting. Murray got an early lead. Federer fought back, but his opponent looked like he woke up. Murray looked like he was going to stretch out this match... he at least stretched out the set. Federer was able to save 5 set points and Murray delayed Federer's victory by saving 2 championship points, as he ran for the net like his life depended on it. So it's now 16 majors for Federer, another trophy and stuffed animal koala bear.

UnbelievaBULL!

Now I feel like I'd be jinxing the Bulls if I didn't post about their games during this streak against the Western Conference. So here it goes.

The Bulls came up with their 5th road win in a row against the Hornets last night, putting themselves over the 500 mark. The Hornets looked like they had a close win at the end of the 4th, but Luol Deng had a clutch basket to force OT. Rose's freethrows won the extra period 108-106. The stats were pretty similar to every other Bulls win. Deng had 26. Rose had 18. Noah had a double-double with 13 points & 18 rebounds. There were 6 players in double figures.

None of the games during the streak were blowouts. The Bulls showed a lot of character staying in games, coming back and playing clutch basketball. Many of these games were close ones throughout. This is good conditioning for a team that used to relax a little with a big lead.

Maria's 2010 Official Nike Training Video

Outfield Logjam

It was announced yesterday that Johnny Damon would not return to the Yankees. We all had a feeling that was going to happen already, but the signing of free agent OF Randy Winn pretty much cemented it. I don't know what the Yankees are thinking. Why is it that fans can see that championship teams should be kept intact, but front offices always break them up? Damon and Matsui were 2 key players in the Yankees' championship run. It was pretty clear that there was an outfield logjam with Cabrera, Nady, Swisher and Gardner in the mix as well. So they got rid of Cabrera, Damon & Matsui. then why fill it with Granderson and Winn? It just recreates the logjam! And instead of players they already know... with question marks. Damon's career numbers are much higher than Winn despite being just 1 year older. He also has championship rings.

It's true that part of this move could've been caused by the Yankees dealing with the infamous Scott Boras... the moron agent that nearly ran A-Rod out of NY! Boras gave the impression that Damon would not budge from his stand on a multi-year contract. It's just too bad Damon didn't dump this guy to talk to the Yankees directly. I'm sure he wanted to come back in his heart. He fit in perfectly with this team.

Thanks for the great seasons and the World Series ring Johnny!

The Streak Continues

This is really mind-boggling that the Bulls won 4 straight... including last night's payback win against the Thunder... 96-86. Derrick Rose went on an offensive tear with 26 and 7 assists. Taj Gibson had a career high 15 rebounds. And the team had 5 guys in double figures. Defensively, they kept Durant from having a spectacular night which was key.

With that win, the Bulls are at the 500 mark finally. Let's hope they can keep it there. In this 4-game streak, all the wins came against better ball clubs with winning records. That supports what I keep saying, that the Bulls play to the level of their competition. They're better against good teams. They're better when they're depleted with injuries. It's really odd.

On a side note... congrats to Derrick Rose on making the All-Star team as a reserve. He's the first Bull since Michael Jordan in his last year. It's hard to believe that it's been that long. It's definitely well-deserved. He's been doing everything this year... an improvement over a great rookie year last year.

iPad

The Apple event turned out to be a bit disappointing. First of, they really only released one product. The Wednesday date had nothing to do with the expiring AT&T exclusivity contract. And the tablet PC was poorly kept secret. By the time they presented it, everyone already had an idea of what was coming out. Frankly, the fake mockups looked better than the real thing. Here's the breakdown:

1 Ghz Apple Processor
This was a lot weaker than expected. I thought they would get a dual core Atom in here. But 1 Ghz is significantly slower than the average netbook and this thing can be more than double the price of a good one.

9.6" Screen
Most rumors had this around 10", so it was pretty accurate and expected. One site had the resolution up to 1440x900, which would've been great at the sub 10" size. The real thing is only 1024x768... not a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is odd for a system today. They was probably based on the fact they want to market this as an eReader and compete with Amazon's Kindle.

Storage
All options are SSD, which makes sense for a this device. Capacities are 16GB, 32GB & 64GB... pretty standard.

So this is nothing more than an enlarged iPod touch. It's not a laptop and it's not just a reader, but is hundreds of dollars more than both devices combined. Apple didn't get a buyer out of me!

Crom vs. Hijazi Preview

I'm already kicking myself for making plans without checking the Friday Night Fights schedule. I'm going to be out of town and will miss the 2/19 event at the Broad Street Ballroom. It was just announced that Chris Romulo will fight Sascha Hijazi in a featured match. It's going to be a fun one to watch because Romulo is one of the most popular fighters in the series. He used to fight for the sponsor, Church Street Boxing Gym, but has recently opened up his own school, CROM Martial Training. His opponent, Hijazi has been great in the series as well. Every time I went out to a fight he was in, he won with the exception of a close one against Eric Utsch.

Something else to think about though is... there was a lot of hype around a Romulo/Hinds match coming in April. In my opinion Hijazi is a better opponent than Hinds (sorry Wat)... at least from the fights I watched over the past couple of years. I have never seen Hijazi hurt... even in the loss. The Hinds fights I saw were closer and I even thought he should've lost the one against Paul Marfort in Mayhem. Still... it's hard to say. I haven't seen them fight the same opponents and there's always the factor that one fighter just has a style that works well against another. So we'll just have to see!

3 Against the West

The Bulls have won 3 in a row before, but I never expected them to do it against 3 good Western teams. Last night, they won a close one against the Spurs 98-93. They opened the game with hot 70% shooting. Hinrich kept them in the game at the beginning and finished with 18. The flu infected Rose scored a game high 27... remind you of another Bull with flu-like symptoms? The Bulls had 6 guys in double figures, but the key was pulling down rebounds away from the double-double champ, Tim Duncan and shutting down Richard Jefferson from scoring. 9 blocks, with 3 from Taj Gibson were key as well. Noah was clutch in the 4th quarter, scoring the last 5 points and pulling down the most important rebound of the game. The road trip's actually looking good!

Weekend Tennis Wrapup

I was mostly busy with the free NBA League Pass trial over the weekend, but also got to see my favorite tennis players in the Australian Open.

Nadal vs. Karlovic was a pretty exciting match as the much taller Karlovic gave Nadal trouble. His serve was powerful and his long arms gave him a big reach advantage. Nadal was faster and had more finesse though. He won that one on experience... 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. He'll face Andy Murray.

When Isner & Murray play each other, I think they should drop their rackets and go for some one-on-one basketball instead. It was interesting seeing 2 near-7-footers go at it in tennis. They looked too big for the court as their wingspans were just getting to everything. Murray had the upper hand though as he was able to get a lot of small shots in.

Roddick had a nice comeback win against Gonzalez... 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. It w as gritty one as I didn't see any way he was going to pull out a win. Gonzalez was playing much better, but just lost his cool at the end. Gonzalez was just hitting everything in the right spot and Roddick kept failing at the net. He won the 4th set on a winner along the right line. Gonzalez gave up on the play, then it was called out. Roddick challenged and Hawkeye showed it was in. That was pretty much the turning point. Gonzalez thought the point should've been replayed, but video clearly shows he gave up on the ball before the call. So he was rattled by that while Roddick stayed cool and won the 5th easily.

Safina is out due to injury. Justine Henin is still in, with an amazing run so far. It makes me think she practiced hard while she was "retired." I think everyone knew she'd be back. Cilic eliminated del Potro and will face Roddick next.

Deals to Ignore This Week

I haven't posted any weekly deals for a while, but that's because there haven't been that many in the circulars. Which means the lame holiday discounts were actually good deals after all! I wanted to do a post for this week because it's important that you not buy the following items yet... deal or no deal:

iPod touch: Remember the last release of this was a bust. They dropped all of the upgrades into the Nano, and did nothing for the Touch. There were reports that there were technical difficulties in integrating the camera. So there's a chance that the 1/27 event will involve a corrected iPod touch.

Any eReader: These are starting to get really popular. I see a lot of Kindles on the subway now and different manufacturers are releasing their own models left and right. The Apple event may have a big impact on this was well if they market the upcoming tablet as a reader. Right now it's best to wait and see what kind of partnerships Apple has going. If they sign enough deals and give this thing the right price tag, it could dramatically change the eBook/eReader market.

Dominating the West

The Bulls won 104-97 over the Rockets last night to win their 2nd road trip game in a row. Pretty much everyone who played contributed and scored in double figures. It was Brad Millers game as he was the high man of the night with 25. Rose kept his offense going. Thomas was the only player with less than 10 points, but he had a monster 6 blocks! That's worth 12 points right there. Noah was out with a foot injury, but Taj Gibson made up for his stats, scoring 16 and pulling down 14 rebounds for a double-double. Hinrich struggled from 2, but was hot from 3. Deng had an off-night, but fortunately everyone got his back.

So that was another game past the century mark. That's not a bad strategy at all to concentrate on offense against the West. It's working! They're still in the 8th spot, so they have to keep winning and put some distance between themselves and the Knicks. The Spurs are next!

Maria's Dress

When I saw Maria Sharapova's outfit during her Australian Open match last week, I thought it looked really unique. It looked unlike anything I've seen before. At first, I thought the 2nd layer would get in the way and be a drag on aerodynamics, but she addresses that in this video:

Setting Suns

After 2 losses on the longest road trip of the year, the Bulls pulled out a victory against the frighteningly deep Suns team. It was a rare televised game that promoted Nash vs. Rose... the best veteran point guard... the teacher from which point guards should be modeled after vs the rising star... the kid with potential to be one of the greatest in that position. Rose, like many stars stepped up to the occasion. He might be a shy guy, but had a spectacular night with 32 points. His scoring kept the Bulls ahead for most of the game. Hinrich also shot an amazing percentage, but more importantly, he shutdown Nash with his tough defense. Noah did his usual job and even nailed some jumpers. They looked ugly, but it's still 2 points a piece! Deng also made some tough contested shots. All of the major, core players did their job and beat a tough West Coast team. The usual Bulls defense wasn't quite there, but they were contending with weaker Suns D anyway.

Derrick Rose mentioned before last night's game that he would donate $1,000 for every point he scored to Haiti relief. So he raised a total of $32,000!

Subway Amatuers

No... this is not part of the Subway Tales series! This has to do with the fast food chain. I had lunch at a local one today and some interesting people walked in as I ate in...

In-Store Phone Order
A lady walked in with her son and decided to call her husband up to get his order. She didn't do this beforehand, but while she was talking to the guy at the counter. There were also 4 people waiting behind her. This is a classic case of the annoying cellphone user... talking on the phone while in the middle of talking to someone in person. Meanwhile, the lunch line was getting longer with this delay.

6 Inches = 1 Foot
A couple of customers later was one of the dumbest people I've ever seen. He ordered a 6-inch sub at first. When the guy at the counter started bringing out the 6-inch bread, the customer said, "no... I want the long one." "Didn't you say 6-inch?" asked the employee. "Yeah, but I thought that was the long one." I guess the customer had no idea what 6 inches looked like and had no concept of 1 foot.

Let's Get it On!

I'm not really a follower, but I have to agree with Gov. Paterson's plan to get more money for NY...

Higher Tax on Cigarettes: There's so much pollution in the city already and smokers are everywhere. This could be the one thing that could lead to slightly cleaner air and less 2nd hand smoke problems. And if the smokers keep smoking, they'll lose more money.

Tax on Soda: This one's a little weird, but I'm OK with it if it helps. It's going to give restaurants an excuse to hike up the prices even more. But the solution for the customer is simple... drink something else. There are so many other beverages out there.

Gambling: This only takes money from rich tourists and the weak-minded. By all means... go for it.

UFC: Bring UFC back! I can't make the argument against brutality with sportsmanship here, but hey... it's only a handful of guys getting hurt while bringing in tons of money for the city. As Big John McCarthy would say... "let's get it on!"

Subway Tales: Sign Placement

I was standing on the platform today when I noticed a young lady leaning over the tracks and looking up. Then I noticed the sign she was trying to look at. It was hidden perfectly behind another long black board. It was pretty much impossible to see without leaning over. We were close to the center of the train too, so it was probably the most important sign on the platform. There were 2 stairways leading up to it. MTA genius at work again!

Apple Tablet Coming Soon

It was officially announced that Apple will hold an event on January 27th for what else but the much rumored about tablet. As usual, I think the price they slap on it will kill everything, but we'll see how it turns out. The size has varied through several reports, but I'm going to guess that it will be a 10-incher. There's no sense going smaller because the resolution has to be at least the same as the most common netbook. Otherwise, no computer buyer would go for it. The processor must be the new dual core Atom. Apple are crooks, but I don't think they would go so far as to charge double for an N270 or N280! Battery life is a must. If this device runs for anything less than an N280's 9-hours on 6-cells, it'll be a bust.

More than anything, this event will put a stop to the rumors that I'm so tired of. Apple... please give us a good product at a reasonable price!

Weekend Sports Wrapup

Friday Night Fights
The Friday Night Fights season kicked off and this series continues to gain popularity. We're starting to see a lot more Muay Thai matches where it used to be 50/50 between that and regular boxing. I expected a small crowd because it was January and the fight card wasn't as star-studded as some of the previous ones at the end of 2009. It still ended up being packed though.

Bulls OT
I can't miss posting about the Bulls' victory on Friday night. I was actually following the game on my cellphone during Friday Night Fights. The close 4th quarter and double OT happened during the Liao/Stafford fight. Rose tied the game at 106-106 with a baseline jumper with 9 seconds left. He had a chance for the win, but missed on the final shot of the quarter. With the 37-point night he had, I think everyone was expecting it to go down. The first overtime showed how fatigued both teams were, as scoring was pathetic. It ended at 112-112. Rose ended up getting the game winner in the 2nd OT... 121-119. Hinrich forced Foye to shoot a bad one right after that. Besides Rose's new career high, Hinrich had a vintage 19. Deng & Noah had 17 a piece. Noah also had 15 rebounds.


Australian Open
I pretty much forgot about Tennis after the US Open because the Yankees were doing so well in the fall. The Australian Open kicked off on Sunday, so it was my usual time to get myself back into it. The usual top players advanced, including Nadal, Murray, Gonzalez, del Potro, Roddick, Dementieva, Safina and Henin. Nadal looked a bit rusty in his first set against Peter Luczak, but still won it in a tiebreak. He then proceeded to win an easy 2nd and finished it in a close 3rd... 7-6, 6-1, 6-4. The one upset was Maria Kirilenko defeated Maria Sharapova 7-6, 3-6, 6-4. It was a typical Sharapova loss where she double faulted herself into it. On the plus side, she did have an original looking, nice outfit though.

Friday Night Fights

God's Stupid Creation

You all know that I try to avoid politics. The other subject is religion, but I'm going to post one for the first time. I was at a family party over the weekend and at the dinner table, one person was talking about her diet. She had just gone for her annual physical and had high sugar and cholesterol. Yet she didn't change her diet, stating that she didn't fear any effects because she's religious. God would protect her and when it's time to go... it's time to go. I actually know a lot of people who think this way, so I don't want to isolate this person. It just happened to come up during dinner.

Here's my take on it. We can't just do whatever we want and blindly think God will protect us from everything. We were made as intelligent beings... in God's image. We weren't made to be stupid. There are things that have been scientifically proven that will kill us. Just because they're enjoyable doesn't mean we can blindly forget about all of the laws of science and say God will protect us. If I love eating McDonald's and eat if every day of my life, I will most certainly die earlier than if I didn't do that. So I think we're being truer to God when we try to take care of ourselves... when we question things and learn. We can do all of these things, be smart and still be devout Christians. I don't believe science and religion are enemies.

Friday Night Fights Results

Tonight's event was an OK one... a handful of good fights with a bunch of boring ones. Here are the results minus the last 3 fights. I had to leave early.

- Heather Maguire def Jennifer Tung (unanimous dec. - 3rd rd.)
- Jeff Chan def Ragelio Castillo (TKO - 3rd rd.)
- Donovan Stann def Alfred Pepushaj (unanimous dec. - 3rd rd.)
- Eddie Cuello def Joshua Pirela (TKO - 3rd rd.)
- Ognjen Topic def Shane Donahue (unanimous dec. - 5th rd.)
- Sterling Thompson def Greg Rowe (KO - 3rd rd.)
- Delvin Hodges def Greg Lachaga (unanimous dec. - 3rd rd.)
- Osvaldo Dominguez def Kyle Hillman (unanimous dec. - 5th rd.)
- Stan Dzhurage def Tibebe Ofa'Loto Worku (unanimous dec. - 3rd rd.)
- Isa Wong def Diana Nguyen (dec. - 4th rd.)
- Deb Liao def Stephany Stafford (unanimous dec. - 3rd rd.)

Photos & commentary coming soon...

Bulls vs. Celtics (Final)

They did it! The Bulls defeated one of the best in the East, staying consistent for the entire game. The scoring ended up being pretty spreadout in the 2nd half. Deng continued his sharp shooting with 25. Gibson, Noah, Hinrich and Rose all woke up offensively as they all put up double figures. It was the rebounds and blocks that won the game though. They had 50 rebs to Boston's 39 and 10 blocks! The Bulls held on, keeping the lead for the whole game. The Celtics got within 6, but the BUlls didn't choke. Maybe they got some confidence from that Piston's game.

With the win, the Bulls improve to a 17-20 record. They have won 7 of their last 10 and are actually ahead of last year's pace! It sure doesn't feel like it, but as I said from the beginning of the season... they won't last without a scorer after the All-Star break. They have to make a move for McGrady to get the 6th or 7th seed.

Bulls vs. Celtics (@ Halftime)

Despite how bad the Bulls are, this one looks like a playoff game... a rematch of last year's spectacular series. The Bulls look good through the 2nd quarter too. Luol Deng is perfect so far... 6-6 from the field, 5-5 from the stripe for a total of 16 pts to lead all scorers. Noah already has 5 rebounds and 4 blocks. Hinrich has 5 assists. The Bulls are doing what they do best... diving for loose balls, poking it away from the Celtics and points off turnovers.

We've seen this before though. The Bulls only have enough depth to play solid for 3 quarters. Despite the 8-point halftime lead, the negative is only Deng is really scoring. They need a couple of other guys to get hot to keep this up for 2 more quarters. They have to take advantage of this team because Garnett is injured. Without that one guy, the Celtics aren't invincible. They're basically the team the Bulls owned before the trade. Let's see how this plays out...

Subway Tales: 1 Stop

On my way to work, the train I was on stopped at the station and waited for the train across the platform to arrive so passengers could transfer. This overweight woman ran quickly across and found a seat at the center of the train. The train doors closed and off we were. A few seconds after she sat down, the woman noticed another empty seat close to the door she entered from. She got up and changed seats. The odd thing was... the 2 spaces were about the same size. The train stopped at the next station and she got up and exited at the door near her first seat. All that trouble to sit down for 1 stop!?

Health Movement

A couple of developments are moving in the direction of a healthier New York. I'm all for each of these...

1) Tax increase for cigarettes: Tax is already one of the highest in any city, but I think any increase is still good. There are still people smoking and exposing non-smokers to the same filth. No tax is large enough. Keep it going!

2) Farm products sales increase: NY Metro reported that despite the recession, there was actual increase in sales of local farm foods. Since there are no farms in the city, the way it works is there are weekly shipments of fresh foods. NYers sign up for a "subscription" an come by whenever the shipment arrives. Many of these farms grew from a handful of customers to thousands today.

3) Just weeks after taking his oath of office, Mayor Bloomberg is cracking down on salt with a goal of a 25% decrease in packaged and restaurant foods over the next 5 years. This is definitely a good thing although you're going to hear a lot of opposition to it. I don't think many products will change from this, but we'll likely see an increase in low sodium options. So the people who don't care can continue as is while the health conscious can take another step up.

5 Years Later

Yesterday Mark McGwire finally admitted to using steroids and HGH. Previously, back in 2005, he refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing. He revealed that he did that to protect his family. I don't get how that works. Everyone already knew he used them. Along with Canseco & Bonds, McGwire is one of the players with the largest visible evidence. He came into the league pretty lean. The year he hit the 70 homers, he looked more like a WWE heavyweight. So I don't see how delaying the whole thing for 5 years benefited him and his family. 5 years of living a lie could only have caused them pain. McGwire also mentioned yesterday that he used steroids to heal from injury. Then why did he use them for the entire career. He can't play the same card as Andy Pettitte. It's obvious that Pettitte used them on one occasion and stopped. McGwire used them all the time and broke one of sports' most sacred records on it.

Steroids not only make people stronger... they also make people dumber and compelled to lie. Notice the correlation between amount of usage with amount of lies told. Pettitte came forth right away. A-Rod took a bit longer. It took McGwire 5 years. Clemens is still going!

Bulls Own Detroit

The Bulls had their best scoring game of the year last night, defeating Detroit 120-87. As bad as the Bulls are, their Central Division rivals are worse, dropping their 13th straight game. Deng had a big game, scoring 27. Rose continued his hot shooting with 22 + 9 assists. The surprise, but yet typical of this season was Noah's 16 + 11 rebounds. He's been a double-double machine. It wasn't a typical game with spreadout scoring. There wasn't much from the other players after these numbers.

Detroit actually has a good team on paper, but the way they use their players confuses me. Why on Earth would they start Rip Hamilton over Ben Gordon? Gordon has been the better player during the past few seasons. The only thing Rip is good at is complaining and getting technicals. Villanueva is also coming off the bench.

Congrats to Jeter!

I really didn't think Jeter was going to get married until he retired, but it was announced over the weekend that he will marry his girlfriend, Minka Kelly on November 5, 2010. Jeter has already done more than most players will achieve in their lifetime and has stayed out of trouble the whole time. I'm very happy that he's taking this step. It's well-deserved. My opinion is that athletes should not get married during their career, but Jeter has proven that he can handle things the right way by being honest and an all around good guy. I feel that this will work.

The 11/5 date is significant because it's the day after the scheduled Game 7 of the 2010 World Series. Baseball is important to Jeter, so he's making time for both his career and personal life.

No Pants Subway Ride 2010

3-Game Skid

With last night's last minute loss, the Bulls drop to a 3-game losing streak. That's just one game away from cancelling out their season high 4-game winning streak. Generally, the starters are doing well and Derrick Rose is clearly out of his slump. So what's going wrong? If we look at past years, the Bulls thrived on their depth, which they really lack this season. They were a good playoff team... a team that beat seemingly better teams without a single All-Star in the lineup. They proves that a team with 12 good players can beat a team with 5 stars + 7 scrubs. Chemistry was the key as they thrived on points off turnovers and spread out scoring. This season, they essentially have the old second team on the floor and a bunch of scrubs on the bench... not enough to get to where they were last year. At least with Thomas back, they're not getting blown out. Some of the losses were close.

Why is Del Negro still coach? Let's grab Lawrence Frank already!

Subway Tales: Incentive Plan

OK... maybe I was too harsh that time I gave my opinions about the MTA service cuts. I'm only talking about the comments that were in favor of charging students. I still think FREE is too little for anyone to pay and money does nee to be pulled from somewhere to avoid a fare increase. So here's the solution I propose... a bell curve. Students should be charged based on grades. The top students continue to ride free. Average students pay 50% and the bottom of the barrel, future gas pumpers can pay the same thing the rest of NYers pay. It's the good students that really want to go to school anyway, so they should not get penalized. These are also the students that won't cause any problems on the trains. The F students are the troublemakers that would abuse the free rides. Some say that the prices will cause kids to cut school... something these failures were already doing anyway. Mathematically, this proposal should result in the same thing as charging all students 50%, but it rewards the ones with a real future. It also gives motivation to the parents to push their kids because there's a big financial penalty.

Sword of Azrael: Agent Zero

The Sword of Azrael has been busy of late, but there are just many out there that need to be taken down. The authorities already got this one right as Gilbert Arenas, the self proclaimed Agent Zero lived up to his name. This all started when he decided to bring guns into the locker room. There was an incident where he and another teammate drew the guns on each other. Days later, details came out that the whole thing was a joke. Arenas claimed he brought the guns there to get them out of his home and away from his kid. Why didn't that come out right away. I think there was a cover up there. Too much time passed... enough for them to try to think up a story. Arenas was also photographed making gun gestures with his hands. Yesterday, Commissioner David Stern suspended him without pay indefinitely... a well-deserved punishment. The NBA works so hard to be a good influence on kids. Everyone loves the game and looks up to the stars for influence. There's no place in this league for Gilbert Arenas' antics. I'm sure he'll somehow find a way back in a while, but hopefully it's the last we see of him on the court.

A Normal Winter

We had an unusually warm November, but it still wasn't out of this world. Following that, December was pretty cold... like it used to be years ago. We had our first snow storm immediately after Winter Solstice. It's been hovering above freezing since then with a few light snow showers over the past weekend. Does this mean "global warming" is a little more stable? The last 2 Winters were very odd with very little snow overall. They were relatively warm and short. Because of that, people kept saying, "see what global warming is doing?" So then how does that explain the Winter we're in now? If we get a couple more large storms during January, then things should be pretty normal. Global warming or the randomness of Mother Nature?

Nothing to See Here

"Move along now. There's nothing to see here"
- Officer Barbrady (South Park)

As I got out of the subway station, I saw this homeless guy crouch down by a mailbox to take a leak. That's a pretty normal thing, but the way he positioned himself was weird. He was facing the street... not concealed at all. He should've been facing the mailbox... otherwise... what was the point in going near it!? So while he was doing his business, every car passing by could see him. There was also a cop car that passed by. The two officers inside must've seen this happen and didn't do anything about it! They just drove by. That reminded me of the South Park quote above. To top things off, this mailbox was just outside of a McDonald's with a restroom!

Bulls Magic

I never thought the Bulls would get a 4-game winning streak this season. Now the first 3 games were against mediocre teams... New Orleans, Indiana and Detroit. But last night, they took out one of the best in the East... the Magic! 4 games is also every game since the return of Tyrus Thomas from injury. Last night's game had nothing to do with him, but if he keeps the current mentality, he will add some much-needed depth to the lineup. Last night's game was about Derrick Rose's 30 pts, 6 reb & 7 assists. He's been amazing during this streak. With the way Rose has been scoring lately, he's pretty much taken the Ben Gordon role. Now if Hinrich can take the Derrick Rose role, the Bulls should be all set! Although the stats don't show it, Brad Miller was the other hero last night as he played Dwight Howard well, limiting the best center in the East to just 9 points. The amazing thing is Miller is the least athletic of the Bulls and Howard is on of the most physically fit players in the league. This is proof that experience is golden. Taj Gibon had a double-double and Deng was 1 reb shy of one himself.

With the win, the Bulls moved into 2nd place in the Central Division, but still a whopping 11 games behind LeBron James' Cavs. They would be the 7th seed if the playoffs began today.