Friday Night Fights Results

Here are the results from the FNF I missed last weekend:

- Alvin Chan def Dan Bido (dec. - 3rd rd.)
- Kyle Hillman def Tariq Ismail (dec. - 3rd rd.)
- Yuting Hong def Joshua Pirela (dec. - 3rd rd.)
- Elijah Clark def Chasz Kobea (dec. - 5th rd.)
- Philip LeGrand def Fabian Lee Wing (dec. - 3rd rd.)
- Chris Kwiatkowski def Rick Screeton (KO - 1st rd.)
- Chris Romulo def Robert Blake (KO - 1st rd.)
- Justin Greskiewicz def Omar Ahmed (dec. - 5th rd.)

It was probably a shorter event due to the 1st round KO's by Kwiatkowski and Romulo. Also, one of the matches got cancelled due to a no show from one of the fighters. So Chris Romulo did his thing and continued his win streak to keep things exciting for the Hinds match in May (I originally thought it was in April). Greskiewicz defeated Ahmed in a very nice technical match that I heard was very close. Everyone is always predicting a KO when 2 local stars clash, but it's more likely to be a good display of Muay Thai with proper form for the full distance.

Nets Fail to Get Record

With last night's win against the Spurs (of all teams), the Nets failed to tie the worst record in NBA history as they picked up their 10th win. The Nets are having one of the worst seasons in franchise history and I'm sure the record was in everyone's heads during the past few games. So you have to give the team credit for playing through it. They didn't choke and just drop all of their remaining games.

They picked up #9 against the Pistons to secure the tie just before the Bulls game. It was a career night for both Brook Lopez and Yi Jianlian. Lopez had 37 pts & 10 rebs. Yi had 31 pts & 5 rebs. Harris had an off night scoring, but had 10 asts. Not much of anyone else showed up. The game was highlighted by a drive to the basket by Yi, drawing a double team. He missed the basket, but took 2 defenders with him as Lopez slammed in the rebound. If this was the only Nets game you saw all year, you would never think they were a last place team. How could a team with Lopez & Yi be so bad?

Last night's game was even more amazing because the Spurs are a good team (Detroit was terrible). Scoring came from Lopez, Harris and Lee. They played good defense as well, forcing 16 turnovers to their own 4... just 4! Now the Nets can relax a little... and who knows... maybe win some more.

Subway Tales: Triple Package

An interesting, 3-characters-in-1 woman sat next to me on the morning commute today. The first thing she did when she got in the car was open up a banana and start eating away. Banana's taste great, but have a strong scent that goes a long way. Of course the eater never realizes this because he/she is... busy eating. In my mind, that was already going in the Subway Tales series, but there was more. After she finished the banana, she started clipping her nails... characterizing another Subway Tales type. And to top it off, she had a super loud ringtone on her cellphone. She got 2 calls during the ride and took a little longer to answer than normal because she was busy grooming. These are 3 common rude behaviors, but it's pretty rare to see it all packaged into one person!

I'll give her credit for a couple of things though. She didn't talk loudly once on the phone and kept it short. She also didn't toss the banana peel on the floor. I guess not littering neutralizes the rudeness... trash is more of a problem on the subway than any of the other things.

Back on Track

The Bulls won their second straight last night, defeating the Detroit Pistons, and pulling within a half game of the 8th seeded Raptors. They have won 4 of their last 5 (the Miami blowout being the one loss). Although the last 2 games were against easy teams, I feel like things could be coming together now that Rose is 100% and the new guys are getting used to his style. Last night, Rose had his usual 21 pts/9 asts. Flip Murray lead with 23 and Miller had another good game with 17. Gibson, who will likely be Rookie of the Year was 1 pt away from another double-double. Noah still played limited minutes, but they're slowly increasing them. Hopefully he can get back to fulltime for the playoffs.

There are only 3 more weeks left in the season. Will the Bulls make their typical end of season push to make a run at 7th or 8th or will they falter as I had expected from the beginning?

Blowout Our Way

After getting blown out by Miami on Thursday, the Bulls dished out their own against the Nets tonight. The story was Taj Gibson and Jennero Pargo tonight. Both guys had career nights. Gibson had a season high 22... also 13 rebs. Pargo had a season high 27 to lead the team... also 5 asts. Rose had a quiet scoring night, but had 9 asts and made great plays for the team. The scoring was spread out besides the leads from Gibson & Pargo and fast breaks looked good.

This game wasn't a given based on the 2 teams records. The Bulls have been terrible of late. The Nets were going on a high from Friday night's game and their only 2-game streak of the year. The Nets have also found ways to beat the Bulls in the past despite standings.

Some important things for the Bulls...

They scored 106 points without a 20+ game from Rose. It's important for other guys to get involved so they can build on their lack of depth. They made fast breaks. This is their game. They're not good when they take their time. The Bulls react better at high speed. They should keep their team small and fast for most of the game. Gibson was great in the paint... keep drawing up plays like tonight.

Hughes Gets 5

So Phil Hughes won the 5th spot based on Spring Training up to this point. It was definitely the right decision based on the past few weeks although it wasn't as definitive as I would've liked. One good thing it it puts Joba in the bullpen where he really belongs. He still wants to be a starter, but he has all the tools to be one of the league's best setup men and heir to Mariano's closing legacy. He should embrace his destiny! Based on history, I don't think Hughes will be able to hold the 5th spot all year long. He's been average as a starter and great in the bullpen, like Joba. I predict that the Yankees will go on a bad stretch and they'll have to make adjustments. Hughes seems to be more comfortable as the 7th inning guy. I think Aceves is a better man for the 5th spot. Mitre was terrible last year, but it was supposedly due to injury and coming back from injury. This year will be the true test for him. Ghirardi has a lot of faith in him, so I'll go with him on that.

Skipping Friday Night Fights

I have to skip out on tonight's Friday Night Fights because I'm saving up for next month's events. There's a back-to-back on the same weekend with Friday Night Fights and Takeon NY. FNF is a must see because of the Romulo/Hinds main event. TKO has a number of good matchups featuring a lot of Sitan and Five Points Academy. I'll post tonight's results if I hear any news.

Bulls vs. Heat Halftime

This is the first year in a while where the Bulls don't own the heat anymore. There are 2 major reasons. Obviously, Gordon isn't on the Bulls to wreak havoc. Also, Shaq is not there to slow the heat down. In the first quarter, the Heat were just running all over the place. The Bulls were missing contested jumpers. They played pretty good defense, but had no fire power. Noah's still recovering, so his minutes are limited. He didn't play the first at all, which was the reason for the 31-19 blowout start. The 2nd quarter was more of the same. The Bulls relied on jumpers, hitting once in a while, but 30% isn't good enough. Pretty much everyone on the Heat looked good, shooting 60%. Last year, I wasn't one to give up at the half, but I don't think the Bulls are going to win this one. And they're basically giving a bad impression the Wade... pretty much like what the Knicks did to LeBron.

Ninja Assassin

I feel like it was only about a month or so ago when I saw the Ninja Assassin trailer with "coming soon" tagline. Then all of a sudden, 2 weeks ago I see it as a new DVD release in Best Buy's flyer! It obviously didn't do well in the theaters if it got released that quickly. There was no surprise there. The cast was made up of all unknowns except for Sho Kosugi, who was popular during the 80's for all of his ninja roles. Anyway, I watched it at a friend's house over the weekend and it was a surprisingly good movie.

The thing I enjoyed most about Ninja Assassin was it really showed why the ninja was feared in Japan. they used their skills and environment to appear seemingly superhuman. In this movie they actually were a little superhuman. It elevated the ninja in a modern culture where ninjas became lovable and heroic. The ninjas in this movie strike the same fear and carnage as the Aliens or Predators. And there's a lot more blood here! The special effects were subtle and clean. The stunts were enhanced by CG, but looked real because they had weight to them and flowed with the motion of the actors.

The plot wasn't that deep. It was a basic revenge scenario with a lot of other sidebars along the way. If you're watching this movie though, the plot really doesn't matter. People watch ninja movies for the great sword fights and stealth hunting. Ninja Assassin is an unexpected gem. If they had signed a big time actor, there's no doubt this would've been a blockbuster.

Related Links: Ninja Assassin (official), ,Ninja Assassin (IMDB), Sho Kosugi, Rain, Naomie Harris

Patching the Wounds

After a 9-game losing streak, the Bulls have a long way to go to make things up. With last night's win against the Rockets, it just makes 2 in a row. With Rose back fulltime and Noah easing in, things are starting to return back to normal. Last night, Rose picked up where he left off... 27 pts/8 asts. Noah played just 12 min, but 4 pts/6 rebs isn't bad. Hinrich and Murray had 17 & 18 respectively. Hinrich was on fire from 3 and Murray was clutch. Both Gibson & Miller had double-doubles... 10 pts/12 rebs a piece. The Bulls made a big run in the 3rd. the Rockets started to make a run in the 4th, but the Bulls were able to contain them in the end. Besides making up for the hole they dug over the past month, this was a good win because the Rockets are a better team... record-wise at least. Bulls had hot shooting and the Rockets had poor defense overall. There aren't that many games left, so the Bulls will have to claw their way into the 8th seed.

Crime Pays

Back when I was in high school, I did a report on crime rates. I did in oral presentation on how criminals had a high chance of getting away. It started out with the number of crimes actually occurring. Then there was a figure for the number reported... number investigated... number caught and number punished. The final percentage was something like 2%. That was back in the early 90's, but it couldn't be that much different today. Check out the 2 recent stories with public transportation. Crime pays when you're...

...a cabbie
A couple of weeks ago, there was a story about a cab driver that took several customers for rides at out-of-city rates. Now it seems like many cab drivers were doing the same... charging suburb rates. Cab rides are already expensive enough without being ripped off. Cabbies are claiming it was a glitch in the meters, but it's pretty obvious that it's intentional. Did all of those cab drivers fail to use their brains all at the same time. Even if it was a glitch, some of them should have the sense to know that they were overcharging. At least the response to the issue is right... there will be an alert system installed in the back to alert passengers that they're being overcharged. The bad thing is... everyone who got ripped off won't get their money back. The TLC should be fined whatever extra money they stole and the money should pay for some other city debt.

...a turnstile jumper
Why is the MTA in debt and increasing fares? The answer is because others are riding for free. The paying customers are essentially paying for these criminals. Over the past year, fares were skipped 19 millions times, which is about $27 million. This money could've gone to retaining low fares, keeping people from getting laid off and getting broken equipment functioning. The MTA needs to concentrate on cracking down. This is a lot of money they shouldn't let slip away.

Snapped Out of It

The Bulls finally snapped out of their losing streak... ending it at 9... a season worst by far. I stopped watching the past few because Rose was out with an injured wrist. They just have zero chance of winning with Rose & Noah out. Without the depth they had last year, the Bulls are just a terrible team after their starting 5. Tonight, Rose came back and everything was flowing the way it normally does. He had 23 pts, 5 asts & 4 rebs in the 98-84 victory over Philly. Hinrich also had a big game 17 pts and 11 asts. Scoring was spreadout across almost all players. Acie Law was the only man out of the 12 that didn't score. Noah played just 9 minutes and wasn't a big factor. I think they're easing him back in, but the Bulls aren't a playoff contender without Noah in for the full 48 minutes.

Muay Thai in America

April 3, 2010 @ 19:00


This Santa Monica, CA event features a couple of good fights. Angie Parr is going to take on Miriam Nakamoto. Parr is coming off a good win and is looking good in her career comeback. She has the experience in this one, but Nakamoto is in her prime. She was the best fighter in Fight Girls and has improved a lot since then. The Main Event features Malaipet Team Diamond and Christophe Pruvost. I thought Malaipet was retired, but it's good to see he's still going to fight. He was still in great shape when he lost to Yodsaenklai 2 years ago. With a lot of training, he can still be a top fighter.

Subway Tales: Backpacker

Here's a shot of the guy in front of me on my morning commute. It was rush hour and the train was crowded. A classic pet peeve is people who don't take their backpacks off. The human body is wider at the top. More people can fit comfortably into the train if everyone had their backpacks detached and at their feet. Of course this doesn't apply to the guy in front of me because he's a "hot shot!"

Tiger Woods in South Park

It was only a matter of time before Matt Stone and Trey Parker got to Tiger Woods. Check it out as season 14 kicks off tonight on Comedy Central.

Subway Tales: Dead Eye

AMNY reported yesterday that about half of the MTA's 4,000 security cameras don't actually work. I kind of suspected that. If you look at some of them, they're just covered with dirt. Even it they were working, they wouldn't be able to pick up much. My problem with this is that the media just announced it to all of the criminals too. Some of the stations that have broken cameras are also the same ones that cut staff last year... no eyes anywhere, which means a freebie for the bad guys. The intention of the media is to let the public know so that there's pressure on the MTA, but it could backfire. It all depends on who acts first. My guess is the bad guys will take initiative before the lazy MTA. So everyone out there, just be aware and alert when using unstaffed entrances. Assume the cameras don't work.

Weekend Boxing

John Wayne Parr vs. Dmitry Valent
On Saturday (Australia Time), John Wayne Parr took on another tough young fighter in Dmitry Valent of Belarus in Domination 4. As with most Australian tournaments, I wasn't able to catch this one. It'll probably be on Fox 22 in a month or so, but I did come across pictures on blogs. It was a decision that went to JWP. He didn't look damaged after the fight. He just had a big smile on his face as he added another shiny belt to his collection... the WKN (World Kickboxing Network) Championship.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey
This was the match that replaced the much anticipated Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight they've been trying to put together. As we know, Mayweather has been making excuse after excuse... asking for Pacquiao to get tested repeatedly for steroid use. It's all just a cover up for him ducking Pacman. So they found a worthy opponent in New Yorker Joshua Clottey... good record... knockout power... respectable gym. It was considered by some to be a match that would elevate boxing because it involved 2 good fighters and no nonsense around it. The only thing that didn't work out was Clottey didn't really show up to play. It ended up being boring. In all 12 rounds, Pacquiao dictated the pace. He kept throwing combos and body shots. Clottey just concentrated on blocking and nothing else. Once in a while, he would slip in a shot, but only followed by a Pacquiao 6-hit combo. It was a no contest... I had it 12-0 in favor of the champ. One judge gave a round to Clottey. He must not have been paying attention. There was almost no point to having this match. It might as well have been Pacquiao knocking around a punching bag on wheels for an hour. I think Clottey knew he couldn't win, so his objective was to survive 12 rounds without getting KOed. That's got to be the explanation.

Subway Tales: Loudspeaker

I came across a classic cellphone case this morning on the train. It was pretty early in the morning and I was looking forward to a quiet ride on Sunday. Then all of a sudden, this guy starts speaking loudly with a high putched voice. Everyone on the train looked at him for a second because it caught us all by surprise. Naturally, I had my camera phone ready to secure his place on the Web!

Make it 6

That's 6 losses in a row now. Last night against Miami was their chance to break the streak because they're a beatable team and we've had a lot of luck against them in the past. Unfortunately, because Rose injured his wrist in the Orlando loss, he didn't play. The Bulls really had no chance without their leading scorer. The worst thing about losing ti Miami is they're one of the teams at the end of the seeding that the Bulls are competing with. With the win, Miami moved up to 7 and the Bulls down to 9. They'd better get it together against Memphis on Tuesday. It's another beatable team and they're running out of games to play.

Subway Tales: Ahead of Schedule?

There's actually some good news for a change... at least for riders of the 7 Train. For the past few weeks, there has been no weekend service between Queens & Manhattan due to necessary track work. The 7 was only traveling between Main St., Flushing and Queensboro Plaza. Riders had to transfer at 74th Street or Queensboro Plaza to get to and from Manhattan. This caused a lot of overcrowding in the platform, especially in Queensboro Plaza since it essentially became the first/last stop. It was just announced that normal weekend schedule would resume this weekend! That's 3 weeks early... unheard of in news about the MTA. It was more improbable because of the 2 snowstorms we had. I think they lost at least 2 days of weekend trackwork because of that.

Below 500

The Bulls dropped their 5th straight last night, putting them a game below 500. Despite a 25pt/13ast performance by Derrick Rose, they fell 132-108 to the Jazz. This one was lost all in the 4th quarter. It was pretty close until then. This is the type of game I was talking about at the beginning of the season that they miss Ben Gordon for. They needed a 4th quarter guy to keep them in the game. Also, right now, every game is critical. In recent year, Bull blew the 1st half of the season only to go on an amazing 2nd half run. Their records after the All-Star break were among the best in the NBA. I predicted this year to be the opposite. Although the start was better than usual, the depth of the team can't hold on the that level of play for another half season. Noah is injured and the bench looks tired. Rose is great, but him showing up alone isn't good enough.

Office Lingo: User Generated Content

User Generated Content or UGC is just a "cool" term for comments, forums posts, blogs, reviews, etc. I don't really have anything against this term because you have to label all of these items as something and it does makes sense. But today I heard a marketing person say "user generated photos." That had me in stitches! Since when is a photo "generated" by a user? Because people feel cool saying "user generated content," they probably think they sound smart putting "user generated" in front of everything!

Friday Night Fights Preview

Last month's event featured Liam Tarrant vs. Kyle Hillman, a matchup between 2 good fighters who recently lost to Osvaldo Dominguez. The March 26the event coming up will also feature another seemingly good matchup... Justin Greskiewicz vs. Omar Ahmed. Both guys recently lost to a streaking Gabe varga from Canada. Justin lost last month and Omar lost in February. Both guys are among the top fighters at FNF and are crowd favorites, so it'll be an exciting show. The pro experience has to go to Greskiewicz. Omar just recently went pro, but he's a much better fighter than his 1-1 record shows.

Also in the March 26th event, Chris Romulo will take on Robert Blake. Romulo is really keeping active as he prepares for the much hyped about April match against Sean Hinds. Last month he defeated who I thought was a better fighter in Sasha Hijazi. Now he's fighting again, a month before the big fight.

Sibling Rivalry

The Knicks have the big name player now in Tracy McGrady, but the Nets looked like an All-Star team against their crosstown rivals Saturday night. When things started out, it looked like a typical Nets game leading to another loss as they fell behind by 16 points. They ended up putting together a 36 point turnaround to blow out the Knicks. Devon Harris was cutting through the Swiss cheese defense and putting on a highlight reel. Brooke Lopez also had his way with the paint. The Knicks "o for" 3-point shooting also contributed to the blowout. As disappointing as the Nets season has been, they must've seen an opportunity when faced with the Knicks. Even though the Knicks have a better record, they're always beatable.

The sibling rivalry is more fun to watch now because both teams are at the bottom of the barrel now. In previous years, only the Knicks sucked.

Getting Back to 500

That's not as positive as the title sounds. The Bulls were on their way to leaving 500 behind after the All-Star break, but they just lost 4 in a row to drop right back. I never thought I'd blame the losing on Noah's injury, but that's just a testament to how well he's played this year. The scoring has been there for the losses, but the Bulls got out-rebounded. In Thursday's game against the Grizzlies, Deng had 23, Rose 20, Miller 14 and Hinrich 13... a pretty good night for the starters. But they lost the rebound war 46-31. So Noah is the x-factor.

In the standings, the Bucks have been great out of the All-Star break and they now hold the 6th spot. The Bulls are at 7, but the Heat are right on their heels. The Knicks are long gone... a good 10 games back. Anything up to the 5th spot is still realistic if the Bulls are healthy.

Office Lingo: Sorry

This happens all the time in the business world... in a meeting, someone will interrupt another person and they'll start out by saying, "sorry." Then they'll continue talking. One of the things I hate about the business world is how fake people are. If someone was truly "sorry" about interrupting, they would pause and let the original speaker finish. if they mean to interrupt, they should just leave out the word "sorry."

So "sorry" in the office actually has no meaning. It's just a word used to initiate an interruption. Or sorry... NOT!

Right Where We Left Off

The opening game of Spring training began for the Yankees yesterday as they faced off with the Pittsburgh Pirates. There were some cob webs to shake off as the Yankees didn't get their first hit until A-Rod singled in the 5th. The pitching was pretty good though. Gaudin & Mitre who were inconsistent last year didn't allow a run or a walk. Aceves was solid in his 2 scoreless innings as well. Still, the Pirates had the lead for most of the game. The Yankees were known for their walk-off wins last year, so what better way to start Spring Training? The Bombers won 6-3 in the 9th with a 3-run homer by newbie Colin Curtis to break a tie game. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come this season!

NY... Uncheck

Last night's blowout win by the Cavs may have shut the door on all of the free agency rumors about King James signing with NY. They made the Knicks look like a college team, defeating them 124-93. Every man in the Cavs 12-man roster scored. James didn't even play the 4th quarter. He would have to be on crack to want to go to the Knicks next year. In Cleveland, he has a much better supporting cast and chemistry. Moving to NY is a big risk. The Knicks do have talent... they always have, but for some reason after everything is added up, they somehow become one of the worst teams in the league. Adding James doesn't guarantee them a playoff spot at all. On the other hand, the Cavs without James are still at least an 8th seed team. While James as a Knicks player makes a good story and keeps NY fans interested, in reality I think there's 0% chance of it happening.

There are virtually no rumors of James going to Chicago, although the Bulls look much more appealing. This is mostly dispelled by the Wade-to-Chicago news. Also, I strongly believe James will stay with the Cavs. Doing so will cement his reputation as an athlete along side the loyal hall-of-famers like Jordan, Bird & Magic... full career with one team and the rings to show.

Olympic Weekend

Hockey
I don't think I've ever watched a hockey game before. It just never appealed to me, but it;s hard to pass up a USA vs Canada Olympic game in Vancouver for the gold medal. It's basically an NHL All-Star game with the whole world as the audience. I actually enjoyed it too. The game was close for the entire 3 periods... and OT. The US came from behind to force overtime. Their 2nd goal (to tie it at 2-2) came with under a minute left. Sidney Crosby of Canada made a great play to score the winner in a legendary game. He made a pass, got it back and made a small move to slap it between the legs of US goalie Ryan Miller. It was a heartbreaker for the US team, but I think they did a lot more than expected. Many nations have strong hockey teams and the US made it to the gold medal game. They took the dream team of hockey into overtime. The silver they got might as well be a gold. Great job by both teams. Ryan Miller was the MVP of the tournament because he was solid except for that one move at the end. He was devastated when it happened, but I was happy to see that he had a smile on his face during the closing ceremony.

Medal Count
The US totals are...

• 9 gold
• 15 silver
• 13 bronze

...more total medals than any nation at 37. Germany had 30 and Canada had 26. Canada won the gold medal race with 14 and Germany had 10.

Closing
I don't think any ceremony will come close to what China did for many years to come, but they're still nice to watch because for 2 weeks, there basically is world peace. Athletes from all of the world's nations gather in one space and intermingle. The opening ceremony had some prop malfunction, so the Canadians poked fun at themselves by working that into the closing, which was very clever because it means the ceremony was somewhat improvised. Visuals were mostly coordinating hundreds of people positioning snowboards to create shapes and words. The audience in several sections wore color-coordinated clothing to create several national flags. I always feel a little sad when the Olympics are over because 2 weeks feels so short for something that comes once every 4 years. But I guess that's what makes it special!