Autumnal Solstice

Just when I wrote about how Summer started right on the dot, we get a few days of nice Fall weather. It was a breezy low-70's. Even something about the outside smelled like Autumn. It was more of the same this morning,  but within the same day, it shifted back to Summer and its high-80's for the evening rush.

Dark Knight Rises - Trailer 3

Happy 38th

Yesterday was Derek Jeter's 38th birthday. Though NY Times wrote that he's on the decline, he still maintains a 300+ batting average and leads the AL in hit. I'm sure any player would love to "decline" like him!

"I think when you're younger you just go out and basically get by on ability. I think as you get older, you learn your body more, you learn your abilities more and you learn different ways to improve. I think that comes with experience"
-Derek Jeter

That was spoken like a member of Team Jordan.Maybe he's not as flashy as often, but he still gets the job done. He's still the best defensive shortstop. Did anyone see Asdrubal Cabrera blow the signature Jeter throw to 1st last night? Jeter still pulls that off better than the younger, stronger SS.

Weekend Sports Wrapup

Subway Series II
This is the last year that the Mets and Yankees will face off with each other 6 times in the regular season as MLB is changing the amount of interleague play in the future. Next year, there will only be one series for the rulership of NY! So the Yankees swept the first one and they completed their dominance over their crosstown rivals last weekend. It wasn't a sweep this time as they dropped the first game 6-4 as Pettitte had a bad first inning. The Yankees made a threat in the 8th, but fell short by 2. The Saturday (4-3) and Sunday (6-5) games were both nailbiters, but it was one of those cases where I knew the Yankees were going to pull through. The Saturday game was a come-from-behind victory where the Yankees had nothing in the early innings. Then Ibanez tied with a 3-run HR and Chavez got the game winner in the 7th.On Sunday, it was the Yankees that got the early lead. The Mets slowly chipped away and tied in what was supposed to be a hyped up pitcher's duel between aces CC Sabathia and RA Dickey. Both guys got roughed up. It was the Yankees bullpen that outplayed the Mets. It was Logan that ended up with the win off Cano's HR in the 8th.That ended RA Dickey's amazing run with 42 shutout innings of which his last 2 games were 1-hitters.

JWP
John Wayne Parr had his retirement match against Jordan Tai over the weekend and the champ went out in style. The Muay Thai match was fought in an octagon with MMA gloves... pretty much ancient style without the glass (ala Van Damme's Kickboxer)! JWP dominated the match and won via KO in an exciting 4th round exchange. Parr's hand was actually broken in the 1st, but he fought with the other hand and still won. What a great way to close an amazing career. I look forward to JWP as he makes the transition to the movie industry and he continues to be a great teacher as well.

Tennis
I thought Wimbledon was going to start over the weekend, but the first day was actually today. I haven't done a good job following tennis this year, but I'm going to try with this tournament. There was nothing that exciting in today's early rounds. Federer, Djokovic, Maria, Stosur and Clijsters all router their 1st rounders.

Dark Knight Rises - Trailer 2

Heat

Over the past few seasons, I wrote about the topsy turvy weather in NYC and how it was swtching seasons day by day. Well... Summer came exactly on time this year. With Summer Solstice 2 days ago, temperatures immediately shot up to 90+. Even though it was the first day of Summer, I think it surprised everyone because we got used to the weird low temperatures. Just the day before, it was a fall-like 70-something with comfortable winds. This could be a long Summer because it arrived on time and I'm sure the extreme changes will bring about unusual weather... maybe even another tornado!

Dark Knight Rises - Trailer 1

Summer is here and the blockbusters are coming. Batman: The Dark Knight Rises opens on 7/20/2012.

Control

I didn't think it was going to turn out this way, but the Miami Heat are on the verge of  winning the NBA title this year. With last night's come-from-behind victory, they took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Everything is going their way. They have the momentum and they have a chance to win this at home. Over the past 3 games, they looked determined and the Thunder have looked inexperienced in the clutch. So I think that game 5 will be it. I'd be surprised if it wasn't.

BUT... as I've said before, the Heat can't win even if they do. If any other team (OKC, San Antonio, Indiana, Chicago) wins the championship, everyone will feel they earned it through a rigorous building process. Miami will be known as taking the easy way out. James quit on his team and joined the Heat so he could  have an easier time.

Subway Tales: Math Club

June means it's finals time for high school students. So Jill has dropped the morning commute makeup and hair. Instead, she has been hitting the algebra textbook along with her BFF, Susan. They usually catch the same train and do homework together, sitting towards the back of the car I'm in. Nearby the 2 of them is another girl of the same age and probably same school... Helen. She constantly has a chemistry book out, either studying or doing written homework. A few stops after I get on, Jean joins the club in the back of the car. Normally these 4 are into their makeup, gossip and smart phones, but they put in the effort when it's needed.

Retina Update

Apple had several systems due for updates after concentrating so much on the iPhone 4S and iPad 3. The computers got their update earlier this week, though there was really only one major change to the 15" Macbook Pro. As expected, it got the retina display, packing a 2880x1800 resolution. That's the highest ever in a 15" space. Heck, it blows away most 28" monitors! The Mac Pro and Macbook air got slight bumps in processor. The Macbook Pros also got processor bumps and the NVidia graphics card made a return. Only the 15" model has the retina, so it's truly the only one you should buy. Though it starts at $2200, the hi-res does justify it.

Maria Completes the Slam

Compubox Stats

Check out the Compubox numbers. This fight was a landslide. Bradley threw almost 100 more punches and nearly missed 100 more.

Before they announced the winner, even Bradley thought he lost. As the promoter went over to him, he said that he tried his best, "but just couldn't beat the guy."

Weekend Sports Marathon

NBA
The ECF reached game 7 as the Celtics and Heat went in tied 3-3. This was a fitting matchup because both teams are built with all-stars acquired from other franchises. The Celtics started the trend when they merged Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen with Paul Pierce. It got them a championship. Following that format, the Heat brought in James and Bosh to join Wade. In the ECF, it was the younger Heat team that prevailed in game 7 though. The Celtics made it close through all the quarters but the 4th. They just kept missing shots. By the 2 min mark, I felt it was already over. So it will be the Heat and the Thunder tomorrow night for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Subway Series
At this point in the year, the Yankees have been playing poorly and the Mets have been pretty good. This series really tells you something about the 2 leagues though as the Yankees swept their crosstown rivals. Hughes, who has been getting his confidence back up had a good first game. Kuroda was perfect through 6. Pettitte wasn't lights out, but still pitched a good final game.  The series was fittingly capped off with a Russell Martin walkoff homerun as things got interesting in the 8th and 9th.

Pacquiao vs Bradley
This could be the match that brought down non-heavyweight boxing. Fans got tired of the heavyweights because there were too many controversial decisions in a row. It was to the point where everything was up in the air if there wasn't a KO. Things turned to the middle weights  with names like De La Hoya, Trinidad, Pacquiao and Mayweather. It was good for a number of years, but ended on Saturday. Pacquiao destroyed Bradley in an efficient schooling. Just about everyone except the 3 judges scored the match heavily in favor of Manny. All of the judges were probably sleeping or doing something else, including the one that scored in favor of Pacquiao. All judges scored the bout 115-113. 2 in favor of Bradley and 1 in favor of  Pacquiao . The Lederman card showed 119-109 for  Pacquiao . The Associated Press had it 117-111 for  Pacquiao . MMA Mania had it 116-112 for Pacquiao. I think the most generous you could be to Bradley was 3 rounds. People better get fired over this one!

French Open
I didn't watch much of this tournament, but was happy to have 2 of my favorites come out on top. The winners were Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. These are 2 athletes that many think are on their way down. Lately, it has been Djokovic on the rise. With the title, Nadal now has the most Roland Garros championships of any man and ties Chris Evert overall with 7. His grand slam total gets upped to 11 for 4th overall.Maria won  6-3, 6-2 over Sara Errani to complete her career grand slam.And she moves back to #1 in her up and down career!

James Answers

LeBron James answered yesterday with 47 pts to lead a blowout victory in Boston. This was probably the way it should have been for every game.  So the Heat avoided elimination with the win and have a chance to win the East at home. I really think that they'll win, but I seriously expected a sweep instead of a full 7-game series!

I think this is where the Bulls edge the Heat as a team. Chicago wins all of the effort points while Miami looks great on paper. The Bulls try hard every night no matter what the situtation is. If it's a blow out and all of the bench guys are on the floor, they're all competing for playing time, so they  still play asif they're losing the game. If it's a blowout loss, the coach will still call time to setu plays. It's good practice for games in the future where they may count. 

Back to the Finals

The Oklahoma City Thunder earned their way back to the Finals with a 107-99 win over the Spurs last night. Back? Yes... the last time they made the Finals, they were the Seattle Supersonics, losing to Jordan's Bulls during the first championship of the 2nd 3-peat!

In last night's game, the Spurs got off to a hot start, scoring 62 points in the first half.  Tony Parker had 17 in the first quarter and Stephen Jackson was hitting 3's. They definitely came out with a statement. But the Thunder were just that much better, erasing an 18-point deficit... a 27-point turnaround! Durant had 32 and Westbrook 25. Duncan had his usual 20+/10+, but enough of his shots were blocked and the Spurs just choked at the end of the game. 

So this is the team that's going to have to beat the Heat and I think they have all the right tools. They mirror the Bulls in depth and core strength. On top of that, they have no injuries.

Fall of Cybertron

What's cool about this game is the graphics are based more on the G1 toys than the new movie style. It brings those old Dinobot and Metroplex toys to life.

Experience Takes the Lead

Over here in the East, the opposite effect is happening to a more unlikely team. The older Celtics went up 3-2 with last night's win in Miami. Both James and Wade had good games. Bosh was a non-factor in his return. Boston got most of their kick from  a vintage Garnett,  who led with 27. It was Boston with the big lead early, then Miami closing the gap and even getting the lead. But Boston's experienced players were more effective in the clutch. The Celtics were a lower seeded team and probably weren't expected to make the playoffs at the first half of the season, but it seems that they learned to play with their current configuration. They weren't the same after the Perkins trade and losing their other big men. But they may have figured things out and at the right time.

It Has Begun!

Now it's a series! The Spurs lost their first home game, giving the Thunder their first series lead. Game 5 was the best game of the series by far... if you're a neutral fan that is. The Thunder controlled most of the game. It started to look like a blow out at first, but the Spurs kept fighting. The Thunder still held a lead for most of the 2nd half, but the Spurs kept it to a manageable deficit. They would make runs to come within 4 or 5. OKC would regain a 10+ lead. And it went back and forth. At the end of the 4th quarter, Tim Duncan took over the game, scoring at will and leading an 11-0 run. Parker was wreaking defensive havoc on Westbrook. The Spurs even caused a crucial turnover in the final seconds, but couldn't convert a 3 to tie. Can they force a Game 7 by returning the favor next game?

Tied Up Across the Nation

Both the Western and Eastern Conference Finals are tied up after this weekend. I expected the Western teams to have a tough battle as OKC finally woke up and successfully defended their home court. San Antonio finally lost a game... first in over a month. And they just lost 2 in a row too. This is also a psychological blow as their invincibility has been broken.The Spurs lost 102-82 and then 109-103. 

On the East, I was a little surprised with Boston's 2 wins. I expected this matchup to be easy for Miami. I thought they would sweep or win in 5, but the Celtics did a good job of team defense and containing Wade and James. 

They say that a series doesn't begin until a home team loses. The Conference Finals have both been reset. It begins again tonight!