2 Number 1's

There's another "first time since the Jordan Era" for the Bulls. They're in first place at the same time as the Yankees! The Bulls blew out the Timberwolves last night to bounce back from their loss to the 76ers. The game was one of Boozer's best with 24 pts and 14 rebs. Rose had 23 pts and 10 asts. It was important or Boozer to have a big game as the playoffs get closer. With all the injuries, he hasn't had the same numbers as the previous years. The Bulls also always seem to bounce back from a previous loss. I can't remember when the last time they lost 2 in a row... and they have yet to lose 3 in a row this year!

OK... so the Yankees are 1-0 after the season opener, but it's still first place as the rest of the division was idle! CC Sabathia was OK in the start, going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs. He wasn't invincible, but 3 runs is certainly acceptable. We got a preview of the typical bullpen work too. Joba came in for the 7th, Soriano for the 8th and Rivera shutdown the 9th. With a bullpen like that, all the starter has to do is last 6... reminds of the days of Quantrill, Gordona and Rivera! Granderson hit the game winning homerun in the 7th.

Clockwork Apple: No Smoking

Everyday, as I walk to and from work on part of my commute, I pass through this office building with an underpass. Each time I do this, there are always 2 people there, James and Linda. They both work in the same office, but not the one with the overhang that I pass by and they hang out in front of. They just chat away every day and light up a couple of cigarettes. The building also has several large signs that say "No Smoking," but it's obviously never enforced. Two people smoking outside of a building might be something every commuter sees daily... nothing special. But James and Linda are there for both the morning and evening rush... like clockwork!

Bullish Weekend

It was another great weekend for the Bulls as they won both of their games back-to-back on Friday and Saturday. Both were close and come-from-behind victories. The Bulls looked fatigued and didn't play particularly well, but they grinded out 2 victories with clutch plays.

On Friday, they downed the Grizzlies 99-96. Rose only shot 6/22, but somehow finished with 24 points. Jordan comes to mind when we talk about things like this. He always found a way to get his points. It's how he has a career 30-point average. Rose is always able to find a way to impact the game. The Bulls were behind in the 4th, but worked a 95-95 tie. The last few minutes have been Rose's time this whole year and he sealed it with a 3-point play.

I thought Saturday would be a loss just because the Bulls must be out of gas by then. They trailed the entire game and were being outplayed by the Bucks. Salmons was shooting well and the Bulls weren't hitting their shots. Rose was the only Bull with double figures by the half. While the Bulls were always in it, they were only able to tie 2-3 times. They were down by as many as 15 in the 3rd. But everyone turned it on after that. A 12-0 run in the 4th as their defense clamped down on the Bucks won this game. Rose finished with 30 and a career high 17 assists. Only Boozer, Noah and Brewer scored in double figures, but all 11 players scored at least 2 points. Show it shows team effort and depth.

With the Bobcats beating the Celtics, the Bulls now have the best record in the East and the 2nd best behind San Antonio in the entire NBA!

Tech Deals of the Week (3/27-4/2)

This column is back, at least for this week. There isn't anything trending towards this happening weekly again. This weeks' is fueled by Radio Shack.

Flash Sales
These are the same sale prices we've been seeing for the past 2 years, so no cost reduction or memory increase.
- 16 GB PNY @ BB for $34.99
- 8 GB PNY @ BB for $17.99
- 16 GB SanDisk @ ST & RS for $29.99
- 8 GB SanDisk @ ST for $ 17.99

Gigaware Sales @ RS
- Webcam w/ Mic for $14.99
- Laptop Cooling Pad for $12.99

iLive Soundbar @ RS for $79.99
Chances are you have an LCD TV by now. And since all of them have bad built-in speakers, everyone has to buy external ones. If you didn't want to setup a 5.1 or 7.1 system with receiver, then a soundbar is the quick and dirty method. The iLive model is normally $130. It's almost always this price. On Black Friday, it drops to $50, but that's never seen outside of that one day. So $80 is a great price if you don't want to wait until November.

iPod touch @ RS for $229.99 + $30 Gift Card
Since iPods have steady prices, it's best to wait for one of these deals. At least you get something back. When you buy an iPod, that's not the end of the assault on your wallet. You always need the accessories!

Sword of Azrael: Ophadell Williams

Ophadell Williams was the guy that crashed the Chinatown/Mohegan Sun bus a couple of weeks ago that killed 15 people. Several passengers claimed that he dozed off a number of times before the crash. Passengers mentioned the buzzing sound when the bus veered off to the shoulder. The grooves that make the sound are supposed to alert drivers. Williams pleaded innocent and that he didn't doze off at all. He blamed the crash on a truck he was trying to avoid. So he feels no remorse for the 15 people he killed. Williams is already a criminal, having served time for stabbing a man to death and stealing from the Police Athletic League. Supposedly, he also had a suspended license. My opinion is that he fell asleep at the wheel. If several passengers mentioned that, then it seems like he's trying to lie his way out. That's beside the point. If he was driving with a suspended license, he's responsible for those deaths. So Ophadell Williams has earned my Death by Fiery Sword penalty x15.

Express?

When people hear the announcement that the train is "express," they immediately think it's going to be fast. So almost everyone crams into that train when it arrives. The local train is almost always empty... or at least comfortable. I notice this a lot on the downtown green and orange lines. But the truth is the local almost always ends up being faster just because it's more frequent. On the green line, you'll see several 6 trains pass by before a 4 or 5. So if you choose express, while the ride time is shorter, the wait time is much longer... and it's more crowded. Same on the orange. The local F is often more frequent than the B, D & M combined. Your best bet is to take the first one that comes whether it's local or express.

Bus Length

Sometimes when you're at the first stop of a bus route, it looks like there's no way you're going to make it on based on the line length. I noticed this as I walked by one of the first stops. The line was just over 4 bus lengths. Slowly but surely, everyone made it on. If you think about it mathematically, a bus should be able to fit a little over 4x it's length of people. There are rows of seated passengers on either side. Then there are 2 more rows of standing ones if everything works out correctly. And of course... a line always has elbow room. So if you see a super long line, don't despair... you can most likely make it in!

Spring?

Vernal Equinox, or the first day of Spring was a few days ago on 3/20. The past 2 weeks have felt like it too. We had temperatures in the 50's and it was raining every once in a while with most days being long, bright and sunny. So I thought we were out of Winter, until I saw the forecast for today last night... snow? While it was a small flurry, it was actually pouring on hard at one point in the afternoon. Fortunately, it wasn't cold enough for accumulation. It still made a nice slushy mess in some parts though. We've had a white Easter before, so I guess that's the real cutoff point to tell us we're in the clear. Just an hour ago, we had thunder sleet too!

The strange thing about the snow and dark morning was that I actually liked it. I'm pretty sure I don't feel like this every year, but I just got so used to things being dark that I feel weird in the light. I want my morning commute to be pitch black. The warm weather and Spring scent feels weird. I'm not sure why I'm having a hard time adjusting this year.

Back to Back Blowouts

Usually after a blowout, teams tend to take the next game non-chalantly. The Bulls approached the Kings in the 40-point win as if they were playing a playoff game against the Heat. They just kept pouring it in. Last night, they played a playoff team in the Hawks and just clobbered them right in the 1st quarter and kept going. They led by as many as 45 points. The starters were taken out in the 4th. Rose only played 28 minutes. So the Kings game was already erased from their memory as they approached the Hawks... a great mentality if they can do this for every game going forward.

Going along with the 1st place rollercoaster game, the Bull went up to the top by 1/2 game again. Boston will have the opportunity to get the tie tonight when they play Memphis. Go Grizzlies!

40 Point Blowout!

It was against the 17-51 Sacramento Kings, but the Bulls played the perfect basketball game last night as they went far beyond the 100 point Big Mac mark. The final score was 132-92. They took off in the 3rd quarter and never looked back, just adding to the lead. Some of these stats are mind blowing:

• 61.3% shooting
• 71% from 3
• 8 players in double figures
• 10/12 players scored
• 11/12 players had rebounds
• 10/12 had assists

It was a true team effort as the Bulls played great defense with great offense. It was a good win to make up for their loss to the Pacers earlier in the week. That game was their first loss to a Central Division team and spoiled their chance of going undefeated.

The win again put them in a tie with Boston as the Celtics made a 4th quarter comeback to beat the Knicks who collapsed in the clutch.

Office Lingo: Agree to Disagree

One of the phrases of Office Lingo I hate the most is "agree to disagree." People use it all the time and think they sound cool when they say it. It makes no sense to me when I break it down though. Earlier today, I said something that most people would disagree with. The person I was talking to said "I would agree to disagree." So in other words, he disagreed. Why couldn't he just say "I disagree?" What a waste of syllables and at the expense of sounding like a moron. If he disagrees, then he's not agreeing with me. By agreeing to disagree, it means he's agreeing with me to disagree with me, which is a false statement because we're disagreeing with each other.

Back and Forth

As the Bulls and Celtics play on opposite nights and both teams keep winning, it seems like the Bulls will be in 1st place every other night. Boston tied it up the night before and the Bulls got their half game back against the Nets last night.

If the current 7-game win streak was going to come to an end, I thought it would be against NJ. It's not because NJ had their own 5-game streak in the works, but the Bulls just seem to always lose to NJ, especially when visiting... no matter how bad or good they are. And now they have Deron Williams. The Nets jumped on offense immediately with Williams, Lopez and Humphries posting strong 1st quarters. Those 3 guys have been their bread and butter during the streak. Several misses by Vuacic and Farmar let the Bulls back in it though. They quickly tied things up and came up with the lead at the half. They weren't shooting particularly well, but won all the hustle points. Asik had a lot of put backs on missed jumpers. He was probably the guy the kept the Bulls from falling too far behind in the 1st.

It started to look like a blowout, but the Nets made a 14-point run to tie the game up in the 3rd. It was close for the rest of the quarter, but the Bulls as usual made the clutch plays while the Nets missed their shots down the stretch. So Deron Williams switched teams, but had the same outcome and was outplayed by Rose a second time!

Alone in 1st!

Once again, the Bulls took care of business against the Wizards last night. With Boston idle, the Bulls took over 1st place... up by 1/2 game for the first time. They got an early lead. The Wizards made up some ground in the 2nd, but the Bulls turned it into a blowout in the 2nd half. The final score was 98-79. Bogans played his best game of the season with 17 points off 5 3-pointers. Rose had 23 and Deng added 20. A red hot NJ team defeated Boston the night before.

Realistically, I don't think the Bulls will be able to hold the 1st seed until th end. But on the other hand, no one really thought they'd make it this far at all. I figured they would be a 4th or 5th seed based on last year's performance and the additions of the new guys. But Rose really stepped up and although most people don't notice, so did Deng.

1st Place for a Day

They really did it! The Bulls slipped into a tie for 1st Saturday night in a blowout victory against the Jazz. And it was while Michael Jordan and the '91 Championship team looked on. Rose put on a show for the Bulls legends with a 3-point performance that felt like Jordan in the '92 Finals. I was waiting for him to do the shoulder shrug! It wasn't only Rose either. Watson, Deng and Korver added to what was 13 3's by halftime. They ended with a new franchise record of 18 for the game. How fitting is that, with Jordan in the crowd? The Bulls led by as many as 30, but slowed down a bit in the second half.

The Bulls were 1/2 game back from 1st place on Friday. With Boston idle on Saturday, the Bulls slipped into a tie. But Boston had their own blowout victory last night against the Bucks. So they gained they 1/2 game lead back. 1st place was nice, even for a day because the Bulls have never done it this late in the season since the last championship.

With 17 games left in the season, something dramatic would have to happen for Rose not to get the MVP award. The battle for the 1st seed will be close between Chicago, Miami and Boston. There there's a gap and you have Orlando and Atlanta... another gap an then there's Philly and NY. The battle for #8 will be exciting as well because Charlotte, Indiana and Milwaukee are all close.

NBA Friday

Bulls
Last time, Kirk Hinrich and the Hawks played well and kept a good guard on Rose. That pretty much continued into this game... the beginning at least. Rose got off to a slow start and the Hawks were leading by 2 at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, the Bulls went on a 14-0 run. Rose actually outscored the Hawks team 18-10 in the entire quarter. So what seemed like a close game became a 94-76 blowout. With Philly beating Boston, the Bulls move up to within 1/2 game of 1st place. Tonight's game will feature a halftime ceremony honoring the 20th anniversary of the '91 championship. It would be fitting if they could pull off a win on this night to move into a tie for 1st with Boston. The Celtics are off, so it could happen.

Nets
The Nets had an exciting game with the Clippers last night where Blake Griffin and Brooke Lopez traded clutch shots. Griffin did a great fake handoff that left his defender looking at a blank space. Lopez pulled off a series of fakes on the other end before making his layup. That lead to overtime where the Nets won their 4th straight game... they had not done that all of last year and this year. It's important for them to make a strong push even if they don't slip into the playoffs because they have to keep Deron Williams happy for future success.

Mail Fail

We have a mail guy on our floor that's especially friendly named Jack. He knows everyone and everyone knows him. Sometimes we ride the train in together and chat about basketball. Jack really has a way with connecting with everyone. So one day I went over to the mail room with a package I was supposed to send out. I asked the man at the counter if "Jack" was there. He responded with, "what's his last name?" OK... "Jack" is a common name, so there's likely 2 of them that work in the mail room. So I gave him the last name. The guy at the counter looked like the name wasn't familiar. I asked him if there was more than one "Jack." Then he woke up and said... "oh.... Jack!" Apparently, he didn't know Jack's last name even though the guy worked in the company for like 10 years! And why did he ask for the last name if there was only one "Jack" anyway!?

1.5 & 20

The Bulls won again last night over a team they've struggled against... Jordan's Bobcats. It was a typical win where the game was close all throughout and the Bulls went on a 4th quarter run. The Bobcats won the previous 2 games earlier in the season and were actually playing well last night. Remember, the Bobcats, although a mediocre team have strangely had some of the top team's numbers, including the Bulls, They've also consistently beat the Lakers. The Heat lost their 5th straight the night before and the Celtics were beaten by the Clippers last night. So the Bulls are now 1.5 games back from 1st place and 3.5 ahead of the Heat. They actually clinched their division and can do no worse than the 3rd seed.

Last night, Jordan also said that Derrick Rose should be the MVP. In previous interviews, so did Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. That's good enough to sway the media into making the right vote. This all leads into the weekend when the Bulls will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their first NBA championship. All of the players will be at the game. Horace Grant mentioned that he would actively seek out Derrick Rose just to meet him. Maybe this will be a symbolic passing of the torch. Wouldn't it be nice to get one 20 years later?

Fun Bus Commute

It's been a while since I've had to take the bus to work, but it's always interesting when I do. Today's bus wasn't totally full when I got on, but it filled up quickly within the next 2 stops. Those were likely skipped by the previous bus because they had 2-3x more people than they should. Almost all buses look more crowded than they are because there's always one kid in the back that refuses to move and is blocking the way with his/her backpack. Today, it happened to be a middle-aged guy. Also, it's a bit more common with the new model buses where you have to take 2 steps up. It's no excuse though. Blocking the back can prevent 10 people from getting on the bus. If you're not going to move back, at least get out of the way. Don't wait for the bus driver to yell at you!

After the bus cleared up a bit, I noticed a girl having breakfast as she sat down. It's bad enough to eat on a train, but doing it on a bus really increases the chances of an accident happening. She was eating a sandwich and also had an open coffee mug between her legs. On a subway, sudden stops aren't that common, yet people spill food all the time. On a bus, there are sudden stops at every corner!

Season Sweep

The Miami Heat had everything going for them, if you look at the law of averages. They had already lost 3 games in a row... 2 close ones and a blowout by the Spurs. They had lost the 2 previous meetings with the Bulls. Because of this, all of the ESPN announcers picked the Heat to win on Sunday, saying that they're too good to let it happen. What everyone fails to recognize is that the Bulls are a legitimate top team. People think the first 2 wins were by luck. Luck doesn't last that long. If it was luck, the Bulls wouldn't have their current record and they wouldn't be dominating all of the NBA's top teams. Miami is going to get all of the headlines because of their "Big 3." It's big deal whenever they fail. I don't think that's fair because they really don't have a supporting cast. They have a couple of good players beyond James and Wade, but the Bulls are solid all the way down to #12. Derrick Rose is the best player on both teams, but I can concede that the Heat starting 5 is slightly better than the Bulls. But for the next 7 guys, the Bulls have the clear edge.

In the game, the Heat got off to an early lead, go on top by as much as 12. They had their flashy fast break points in the 1st as the Bulls looked slow on defense and their shots weren't falling. They worked their way back into it with a small run in the 3rd and got the lead late in the 4th. It was a tough game because James and Wade never really slowed down. And Bosh had a great first half. So the Heat played their best and still came up short as the Bulls were better in the final seconds. A 4-point lead evaporated when Chalmers quickly scored to tie and get the lead. Deng was fouled. He hit the first. Then he missed the 2nd. Noah tapped out the rebound back to Deng, who was fouled again by Mike Miller. He converted both. On the other end, James missed a layup and Wade missed a followup jumper to end the game.

With the win, the Bulls move into 2nd place by a full game... 2 in the loss column over Miami. They own the season series if it comes down to a tie. They proved that they could consistently beat Miami, which is very important when it comes to playoff time. Rose likely secured the MVP as he outplayed James again.

NBA Friday

US vs Canada in UK
In a special move to promote basketball in the UK, the Nets and Raptors started a 2-game series in London last night. The change of scenery really helped the Nets snap out of their losing streak. Almost every player on the team scored as Deron Williams played a solid 166 pt/11 ast game for his first win as a Net. Lopez lead the way with 25 and Humphries, who keeps getting better added 18 and 17 rebs!

Bulls
The Bulls had another strong performance against another top team, the Magic. They got off to a quick start, but let the Magic get back into it mid-4th quarter. It was the Bulls that had the clutch shots at the end, including Korver's dagger 3 to ice it. It's interesting how certain players can give the Bulls trouble and others almost help the Bulls win. Generally, the Bulls don't play well against Carter and whatever team he's on... hence the defeat by the Magic early in the season. The Bulls have always had Arenas' number. So now that they Magic picked him up and traded Carter...

Season Sweep
The Knicks looked like they were about to put away any questions about them matching up with the BA's worst team, the LeBron-less Cavs. They were blowing out Cleveland until the 4th quarter 12-3 run. That 119-115 loss gave the Cavs the season sweep of the Knicks... 3-0. It's mind boggling how that could happen and even more so that the Knicks had Melo for 2 of those games.

Finals Preview?
The Spurs blew out the Heat late last night, which again is going to raise questions about whether or not Miami can beat the top teams. The graphics are always on screen now how they only beat a top 5 team once this year... the Lakers. So could the Heat/Spurs match be a Finals preview? I'm thinking Bulls Spurs! With the Miami loss, the Bulls take the 2nd spot in the East.

Ancient Radios

On the front page of today's AMNY was a story about how cops' radios are completely non-functional when in underground subway stations. A story like this is intended to get the city moving on the issue. And the city must take quick action because this same story also informs terrorists and other criminals on how to deal with cops underground. While it's been like this for years, it's a major concern because there have been terrorist attacks in other countries' train stations over the past couple of years.

One of the major frustrations about this is the technology is available. This is a common case in NYC where we have very old systems and can never find a critical time to take them down and swap them out for newer technology.

Subway Tales: Ones and Twos

Years ago, I wrote about how the 1 trains travel in packs of 2. I ride it pretty often... around 2-3 times a week and it always seems to follow this pattern no matter the time of day. When the platform gets crowded, I know to let the train pass because the one right after will be empty. Now I have the numbers to prove it because they installed a countdown info. screen in the station. Sure enough, it read 10 minutes for the next train and 13 minutes for the one right after. I arrived today at rush hour to a crowded platform. The info. screen was right on the money. Everyone sandwiched into the first train. The next one was really right behind and empty enough for people to sit down.

Hinrich's Teams

Earlier this week, the Bulls won their 3rd straight in a blowout victory against the Wizards. It was one of those games they would typically get complacent in, but they played through it and maintained a comfortable lead throughout. The Wizards don't really have a team, especially after dealing away Kirk Hinrich to the playoff-heading Hawks. They get Bibby in return, but then sent him off to Miami.

Just last night, the Bulls ended their streak by blowing a 19-point lead against Hinrich's current team. Though the Bulls had a nice lead into halftime, Hinrich was doing a great job on Rose and that turned out to be the difference in the game. The Hawks cut the lead with a 13-3 run in the 3rd quarter and didn't get the lead until the final minute of the 4th. But if you do the math, Hinrich kept Rose to below his average and that was really the difference in the game. True, Korver airballed a 3 that would've made a difference, but it shouldn't have come down to that.

iPad 2

As expected, Apple released their new iPad in a typical keynote event. Pretty much all of the rumors were right. It was a thinner model with 2 cameras and a faster dual core processor. I actually think this model is fairly useful. The first generation was definitely a Guinea pig, but attracted many buyers because it was the first. It was cool, but underpowered and too heavy for an e-reader. So Apple addressed all of the major problems. The dual core A5 processor, while still underpowered compared to a thin and light laptop, is at least better than a phone processor. The body at 33% thinner really makes a difference if this is something that's going to be in your bag every day. One surprise was the magnetic cover that protects the screen and acts as kickstand when it folds back.

The big question is... will I get one? Tempting, but still no. What I want out of a tablet is a full computer. The iPad two has all the hardware, but I'm just not a fan of it running iOS. I want OS X! And technically, it can be done. People have hacked the Eee PC to run OS X and at decent speeds. I'd rather hack the ASUS EP121.

Spring Showers

It looks like the groundhog was right. Spring really came early this year. The piles of snow are finally gone from most areas as temperatures rose over the past week. We've been around 40-50 degrees for about 2 1/2 weeks now. We've also had a number of Spring showers already... and a short thunderstorm too. The sun is rising earlier... I can actually see it come up in real time during the walking part of my commute. While there's always chance for a surprise snowstorm in late March or even early April, it sure doesn't feel like that right now.