Traffic

I looked at my traffic stats for the first time in years and some of it is pretty interesting:

Browsers
I make a lot of tech posts, so it's not too surprising that Firefox is the top browser, actually outnumbering IE. Firefox has 46% while IE scores 37%.

Countries
This is weird. In recent months, there have been more views from Russia than the US! Overall, the US has twice the traffic. I also get a fair amount from Germany and UK, but Russia and US are the top 2 by far.

OS
Windows rules, but surprisingly, there's 16% from Linux.

2-0

The Bulls are now 2-0 against the new and improved Super Knicks. In the first game, it was pretty much bench against bench with all of the injuries. Last night's game had Carmelo Anthony back while the Bulls were still crippled. Once again, teamwork went a long way. Bulls had 5 guys in double figures led as usual by Luol Deng (29). Belinelli continued his consistency since the Hamilton injury, adding 22. Hinrich lit up the Knicks in the first half and finished with 16 pts and 8 asts... one of his best games this year. Noah had as double-double also as usual. The the Knicks, Melo lead the way with 29. Smith and Felton also scored over 20, but they didn't get much from the rest of the team. Everyone on the Bulls showed up to play. That's how a team not expected to make the playoffs can beat the best team in the league. We've done this for over a decade. Still think we're not getting into the postseason this year?

Triple Threat

It's official... the Yankees signed Ichiro to a 2-year, ~$12 million deal. His age doesn't matter. He's still one of the best hitters in baseball and hasn't lost his speed. He's also one of the best outfielders in the league, so it was a no brainer. The only fluke was last year on Seattle. He was vintage for the Yankees after the trade.

With Jeter, Ichiro and Gardner in the lineup, the Yankees have the most dangerous and fastest top of the order assembled. It's going to make any starting pitcher a nervous wreck, especially if one of those guys gets  hit or a walk. There's going to be havoc on the bases. The outfield also has amazing coverage with Gardner and Ichiro covering ground.

With a 2-year contract, it also gives Ichiro to get his 3000th hit in pinstripes if he hits his usual numbers.

Youk

With Alex Rodriguez scheduled to have hip surgery, the topic of conversation was a replacement 3rd baseman. My friends and I joked that we'd be sticking it to the Sox of we picked up Youkilis. I was hoping the Yankees would make a move for Marco Scutaro just because he kicks our butts when he faces us. One by one, the free agent 3rd basement signed with teams and sure enough, we ended up with Youkilis!

Youk has been a key part of the Red Sox core, but I think fans will be OK with him in a Yankees uniform. Of the Sox-to-Yankees players, the one I never liked was Roger Clemens. Youk plays hard and isn't a jerk, so I think I can get used to him in uniform. The good thing is because of last year's falling out with Bobby Valentine, he has beef with the Red Sox. So the Yankees are a perfect fit if he wants to get back at his old team.

It was all official today after Kevin Youkilis passed his physical... 1 year, $12 million.

Holiday Party

We had our company holiday party today. Weird, right? It's only the 2nd week of December! It's like this every year for us though. They plan it this way because they want a higher turnout. Almost everyone takes that last week off and many people take the week before that. So the holidays really get stretched out because of this.

The thing that's different this year is the venue. The company typically rented some high end place... like a ballroom of a fancy hotel. This never made sense to me mainly because of the money spent. The economy is not doing that well and it's just throwing money away for what the company thinks is raising morale. I'd rather have that money somewhere else like staffing. That would raise morale. It has long term value whereas a party lasts a few hours. This year, it's like upper management grew a brain. The holiday party is in the office itself... in our 2 large board rooms. Think of the thousands of dollars of savings if we had done this every year.

Spammers Suck

Every once in a while I still get spam comments on this blog. Don't people realize that I have my security settings up... as many other bloggers do. Their comments never make it up, but yet they keep posting. Sometimes I wonder what it's like to be a low life spammer. They must spend the whole day pasting the same stuff all over the Net. Any good site won't automatically post comments. So there's a lot of wasted effort.

Pacquaio-Marquez 4

The 4th and very likely the final meeting between these 2 great boxers ended in a bang and it needed to! The 4th meeting was by far the most exciting. I think both guys wanted it to be decisive, so they came out firing. No more technical matches going the distance! Marquez knocked down Pacquaio for the first time ever in the 3rd (that's 3.5 matches... 39 rounds)! Pacquaio then returned the favor, sending Marquez to the ground in the 5th. The match ended in the 6th with an overhand right by Marquez. 

This is the way boxing matches should end. Fighters really need to step into the ring assuming there's no win if there's no knockout. If they've watched enough matches, they should know that the judges are not reliable at all. Either there's money on it or they don't have good score-keeping experience. I can't tell you how many matches I've watched where 1 guy clearly won, but the opponent was awarded the win.

Bull's Weekend

The Bulls finally have their first 3-game streak going with victories over the Pistons on Friday and Knicks on Saturday. Friday night's game featured a strong 1st half by the Pistons... exactly the type of thing that gets the Bulls going. They dominated the 3rd quarter which decided the game. The Bulls overcame a lead as large as 17. All players scored that night. Here's the weird thing... Noah led the way with a career high 30 pts... and 23 rebs!

No matter how hard the refs tried to give this game to the Knicks, the Bulls wouldn't have it. The game was plagued with bad calls including a strange ejection of Taj Gibson. Hinrich got injured early in the game. The Bulls still stayed with the Knicks all the way though. They actually had the lead for most of the game, but it was close... never a double digit lead until the final minute. The Bulls ended with 5 guys in doubles. Belinelli lead with 22. His 15 first quarter points kept the Bulls in the game. Deng tied with a solid 22, taking care of the 2nd half. Noah had a double-double, but not quite the super human 30-23 from Friday! They also played grittier than the Knicks, winning the hustle plays and forcing bad shots. They got JR Smith to shoot 4 of 14. Felton with 27 was really the only guy that got off. Knicks were held to 37% shooting.

Sword of Azrael Annihilation

Naeem Davis: wins the Death by Fiery Sword Penalty for pushing Ki-Suck Han to his death on a subway platform. Davis is a useless homeless man with no life... scum of the Earth consuming precious air. And he took the life of a family man.

Umar Abassi: wins the Excommunication Penalty. He's the photographer that decided to take pictures of Ki-Suck Han's death instead of spending the energy to try to help. He chose to document rather than attempt to save. He continues to try to convince himself that he tried to warn the conductor with a flash and that he was too far away to help. Whatever gets him to sleep at night.

Lucius Crawford: Another taker for the Fiery Sword, Lucius Crawford was a cold case that heated back up this week. Cops figured him out for 3 murders dating all the way back to 1993. When they caught up with him, he had just murdered a 4th. Who knows how many more in between.

Lindsay Lohan: I'm tired of weekly crime news about this former celeb. Fame has certainly gotten into her head and made her believe she's above the law. She deserves the Slave Pit, but I'm giving her Excommunication. She needs time away so she could feel like a nobody.

Bounce Back

One thing about the Bulls, no matter how bad they are is they have a tendency to bounce back after a loss. They lost a game they should have won Tuesday night against the Pacers, an important division rival. There wasn't enough offense and the defense was even worse. The Pacers weren't particularly good, but the Bulls allowed George to score 34 and look like a superstar.

Last night, the Bulls came in and took care of business against the Cavs. Just like any other win, 5 guys scored in doubles. Deng had his usual 22, but it was Belinelli that shined with a career high 23. I was worried about him because he usually has a DNP in the box. In order to be semi-successful this season, he's one guy the Bulls need to play his best ever. Boozer & Noah had double-doubles. Hinrich added 11 and dished out 8 asts. All players with minutes scored.

Subway Wi-Fi

Even though I'm all into technology, I don't think yesterday's news that subway wi-fi being on schedule is good news. 30 stations in the system were scheduled to have it by the end of 2012. Sandy only pushed it back to Feb. 2013. By the end of 2013, the number will be 40 stations across Manhattan and Queens.

Here's the list of the first phase:

- A,C - 96th, 86th, 81st, 72nd, Columbus Circle, 50th & 42nd

- E - 50th, 7th Ave., 53rd

- 1,2,3 - 86th, 79th, 72nd, Columbus Circle, 50th, Times Sq., 28th, 23rd

- N,Q,R - 59th, 57th, 49th, Times Sq., 28th, 23rd

- B,D - 96th, 86th, 81st, 72nd, Columbus Circle, 7th Ave.

- F - 63rd, 57th

- M - 53rd

All-Star Deng

The Bulls won again on Sunday behind Luol Deng's 25 pts and double-doubles by both Noah and Boozer. Deng is once again putting up All-Star numbers every night. He's leading the league in minutes played and averaging 18 ppg, 7 rpg and almost 3 apg. And again, he flies under the radar, quietly leading his team. Because people don't know him, it's going to cost him an  All-Star starter position, but he always has a shot for the bench with the more valuable coaches pick.

Sunday's win was a typical one with 5 players in doubles and all players with minutes had at least 2 points. Hinrich and Butler didn't have great numbers, but did a lot of clutch dirty work in the 4th to seal the deal. The team combined for 59 rebs and 28 asts! This is what the Bulls are all about, but they need to do this every night.

Sword of Azrael: Zoophiles

Apparently, there's a movement to make bestiality illegal in Germany. That kind of headline was unbelievable... there has to be a law to make that illegal? To me, that should be a common sense thing. Anytime a country is established, that should automatically be in effect. It was shocking to learn that there are countries who allow it. Whoever is defending it should be locked up for good.

Bounce Back

Last night's game was strangely like the previous 27-point blown lead. The Bulls started off on fire against the Mavs. That always has me worried. As I've mentioned, they've been a comeback team of late and this 2013 iteration, they don't have a deep enough roster to fall asleep and still win. It was 58-42 at the half, but they learned their lesson from the night before. The 3rd and 4th quarters were pretty even, so the 2nd defined the game. The Bulls were able to defend their lead. They had 5 guys in doubles lead by Deng's 22. Noah had his typical double-double. Hinrich and Hamilton combined for 7 assists. Robinson provided spark off the bench with 14 pts & 6 asts. The win evens up the Bulls at 7-7.

Arrow 107 - Muse of Fire

The streak of supporting DC characters continued in last night's Arrow as Huntress made her first appearance. It seems like they're filling up Green Arrow's world with Batman characters. Huntress wasn't actually named yet. It was just Helena Bertellini in a motorcycle outfit. Just like the comics, she's secretly hunting her father's (a mafia boss) henchmen, but there's no mention of her being a school teacher as cover. It also looks like she's going to be the love interest here. A preview of next week's episode show the debut of her alter ego.

Return of D-Rose (Part 6)

Watch the conclusion of the episodic journey documenting D Rose's inevitable return to the game. What's inside him, can't be stopped. From his Belief, Hope, Focus, Push and Drive, D Rose is all in for his fans.

Missing the Mob

We're about a month into the NBA season and the Bulls are hovering around the 500 mark. They're grinding out wins and losing games that they should win. This is happening more so because the Bench Mob was broken up than Derrick Rose injured. When the starters were having off nights, there was always a member of the Mob who could step in. Remember Asik basically had the same numbers as Noah off the bench. Watson had starter-like numbers. Korver could nail several 3's in a row and erase a large deficit. They really don't have any of that this season and it really showed last night. The Bulls started out on fire, building up to a 27 point lead and they lost the game. That's inexcusable even for a bad team. Last year, they would have had a slump and given back 10-15 points. But they would have still secured the game. They're just missing that extra kick, which will still be missing even when Rose returns. Even though he's an All-Star, he's still one guy.

Barclay's Hardwood

I'm watching the Nets vs Knicks right now in a close game of a potential rivalry for rulership of the city. Both teams have built up their rosters for championships and it's been a while since both were good at the same time. This is also my first look at the Barclay's Center. I've seen if before in pictures, but this is the first Nets game I'm watching and they did a great job with the stadium. The floor is the best of any arena. It has a nice original pattern and naturally, it's shiny new.

Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday used to be a term used for the leftover sales that went to the online stores... stuff leftover from Black Friday. When it was first coined in 2005, it was sort of an underground thing that the tech savvy knew about. Just like Black Friday, it's now very diluted. Stores are trying to sell Black Friday leftovers... which were in turn left over crap from the rest of the year. It's also not an underground thing anymore. It's overmarketed to the point everyone shops online. Even during Black Friday, many consumers opted to shop online instead of waiting outside for doorbusters.

I write regarding tech products of course. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still statistically successful in the bigger picture, so I imagine that deals for clothing and household items were good. After all, retail shops don't slap refurbished clothes in their ads!

Black Friday Fail II

Though I did a Black Friday post this year, I still feel that it has failed for the 2nd year in a row. None of the deals I listed were spectacular. Those are prices that you'll find throughout the year if you shop at the usual places. Something I noticed more about this year's event is that there were a lot more old (outdated) models and even a lot of refurbished items thrown into the mix. Many deals that looked like great prices Online at CompUSA and Newegg turned out to be refurbished items. The other items were no better than the weekly deals from their newsletters. It looked like Black Friday was a leftovers garage sale for crap leftover from the rest of the year.

Black Friday Deals

Mice / Keyboards
- Logitech M325 @ BB for $9.99
- Logitech M185 @ ST for $9.99
- Logitech M525 @ ST for $14.99
- MS Wireless Comfort Keyboard @ ST for $29.99
- Logitech M310 @ OD for $9.99
- Logitech M510 @ OD for $19.99
- Logitech M525 @ OD for $19.99
- Gigaware Optical Mouse @ RS for $9.99
- Logitech K360 Wireless Keyboard @ RS for $14.99

Flash
- SanDisk 32GB @ OD for $14.99
- SanDisk 64GB @ OD for $29.99
- SanDisk 32GB Ultra SDHC @ ST for $19.99
- SanDisk 32GB @ RS for $9.99

HDD
- 1 TB Seagate Portable @ BB for $69.99
- 3 TB Seagate Ext @ BB for $99.99
- 3 TB WD Ext @ OD for $119.99

Accessories
- 2 Dynex HDMI cables @ BB for $19.99
- Logitech Harmony 650 @ BB for $39.99
- Logitech Harmony 600 @ RS for $29.99
- Skullcandy Ink'd 2 Earbuds @ BB for $9.99
- Skullcandy Ink'd Earbuds @ RS for $8.99
- Sony 3D Wi-Fi Blu-ray Player @ BB for $99.99
- Toshiba Smart WiFi Blu-ray Player @ BB for $39.99
- Logitech C210 Webcam @ OD for $9.99
- magicJack PLUS VoIP Phone Adapter @ RS for $49.99
- Beats Solo @ RS for $179.99

Tablets
- 16 GB Kindle Fire @ BB for $199.99 + $30 Gift Card
- 8 GB Kindle Fire @ BB for $159.99 + $30 Gift Card
- 16 GB Kindle Fire @ ST for $199.00 + $20 Gift Card
- 8 GB Kindle Fire @ ST for $159.00 + $20 Gift Card
- 8 GB Kindle Fire @ OD for $159.99 + $25 Gift Card
- PointMobl Universal Stylus @ RS for $9.99

Store Key: BB = Best Buy, CU = CompUSA.com, DI = Directron, NE = NewEgg.com, OD = Office Depot, RS = Radio Shack, ST = Staples, TG = Target

D Rose 3

I'm really liking this series. The D Rose looked good since version 1. I thought 1.5 and 2 were the best looking shoes out there and now they're continuing the good work with the 3rd version. They're good looking and well made. I gave them (the 2's) the physical therapist test by twisting the sole and compressing the tip and they work out better than anything Nike makes.

Arrow 106 - Legacies

This is the second episode in a row that DC fans will enjoy because it features another comic book villain... or group of villains. In this case, it was the Royal Flush Gang... playing card themed family of thieves. This gang has appeared in many different forms across the DC Universe, but I liked this translation. They managed to keep the costumes realistic and not too elaborate. The hard masks still looked good with the card theme. And they did a good job working them into the Green Arrow storyline.

I should also mention that Deathstroke's costume was also a great translation into realism for last week's episode. He had black body armor and not the orange tights over navy blue scales.

So far we've seen Deadshot, Deathstroke and Royal Flush. Who else will be in this series? I can't wait!

Subway Tales: GC AMNY Guy

You know the AMNY guys? The guys that hand out the paper to you every morning? I know that they get rated or evaluated on how much they hand out. How? Well, if you've ever passed through Grand Central station in the morning, the AMNY guy in the tunnel used to practically beg commuters to take the paper from him! He would say "AM New York... help me out fellows... please help me out!" We was doing this for months, but I haven't seen him in a while, so I think he finally gave up. He drew the short straw though. Grand Central is to most people a final destination or transfer station. Commuters usually pick up their copy of AM before taking their first train. By the time they're in the Grand Central tunnel, they already have it. In my commute, if I hit the tunnel, I would have already passed 2-3 AM guys. So I feel bad for this guy!

Arrow 105 - Damaged

In this episode, Green Arrow sets himself up to be captured so he could in turn set up the cops and media to disassociate the hooded vigilante from Oliver Queen. It features the developing relationship between Queen & his sister, bodyguard and Laurel. I mentioned last time that the costume needed a mask because Arrow can't always tilt his head down for the hood to cast a shadow. Well... they added the mask (face paint) this time, so it's more practical and believable.

Comic book fans will also enjoy the villain in the flashback... Deathstroke! I'm sure we'll see more of him in future episodes.

Sandy

What a crazy week it's been. In all of my life, NYC has never faced such a long downtime due to weather. The blackout was roughly 2 days but fell on a weekend.Snow has only knocked us out for 1-2 days in the past, even the worst blizzards. We're coming around 1 week now and everything still isn't up. Downtown is in bad shape as is NJ and Long Island.

Fortunately, my power loss was minimal and I was able to work from home. I still felt disconnected because there were no subways and buses. Supplies at many stores were also running low as no shipments could get in... and in some cases no employees could make it to work.

Right now, most subway lines are running with limited service. Many downtown areas are still flooded or have water damage. Hopefully the weekend will be enough time to expand service for Monday's rush.

Return of D-Rose (Part 5)

Green Arrow

There's a new show on CW11 this season and it looks like DC Comics is trying to revive Green Arrow in Arrow. I'm not as familiar with this character  as with Batman and Superman, but the show is pretty good so far. It features a younger Ollie Queen getting started with his crime fighting career after years of being a castaway. The 3rd episode, last night even featured another DC character, Deadshot and ended with an homage to a comic book cover... I won't spoil it if you want to catch the replay.

I like what they did to modernize his costume. It's a darker green and made of practical materials that allow protection and movement. The only thing is he needs a mask  because the shadow of the hood wouldn't be ideal for many situations.

The supporting cast is nice too. He gets help with his cover from a body guard that his mother assigned to him. Last night, it's hinted at that an IT person from his dad's company could be another helper. There's also Laurel "Dinah" Lance, who is Black Canary in the comics, but she's just a lawyer in this series. Hopefully we get to see Black Canary in the future.

So... finally I have a show to write about. It''s been a while since Stargate!

2013 Season

The Yankees could potentially look very different next year with the number of free agents and options on the current team:

Outfield

There will be a logjam in the outfield positions because of Gardner's return and the mid-season acquisition of Ichiro. Most likely, Andruw Jones and Nick Swisher will not return because of their poor performance at the end of the season and playoffs. Ichiro is a short-term contract, but the Yankees would do well to sign him up. Other than Jeter, he was really the only other consistent guy after the break. Besides, it would cause absolute chaos for the opposing team with Jeter, Ichiro and Gardner in the same lineup. 

Martin

Martin had a really bad year as a hitter, but he's still a solid gold glove catcher and came through with clutch hits. This one can go either way, but I'd rather see him stay as  the pitchers are already used to him. With Cervelli returning, Martin won't have to take the full load also.

Pitching

I think Soriano is either a free agent or option. This one's a no brainer. Although his blown saves will always stand out, this was the best season of his career and comparable to a typical Rivera season. 

A-Rod

He's still on contract, but it's funny how trade rumors immediately surfaced after the Yankees were eliminated! Most likely he'll still be the 3rd baseman, but if some deal comes out of this, it makes room for my 2004 prediction that David Wright will play for the Yankees one day.

Capacity Crowd

Last night, the Bulls fans filled the United Center... not for a Miami vs Chicago playoff game, but a preseason against Minnesota! This is why the Bulls franchise has the best fans in the world and I'm proud to be one of them. This is a screwed season not only without Derrick Rose, but with a complete restructuring of the Bench Mob. We'll be lucky to make it to the lower end of the postseason. But one thing's for sure... the fans will always be there to support their team. Fans of many other major franchise cut and run when their teams suck. Just look at the Knicks, Mets... even the Yankees.

Bulls won 92-81 as many of the new faces mixed well with the core. Deng had 14 pts. Boozer lead with 24 and 9 rebs. A vintage Rip had 15 pts and 5 asts. Hinrich, with a sore thumb dished out a team high 8 asts. Gibson, the only returning member of the Mob came off the bench with his usual double-double. I would love for this starless team to come out and shock the world this year!

Sword of Azrael: Lance

It's been talked about for a long time... Lance Armstrong and doping, but earlier in the week way too much evidence surfaced in the form of 1000+ pages. 1000 pages! That's a lot of evidence. What did he do, keep a diary of his daily activities? Anyway, Azrael doesn't need to had out an excommunication penalty here because he pretty much got one in real life already. Almost immediately after, he lost all of his endorsements including Trek, Giro, FRS, Honey Stinger, 24 Hour Fitness, Anheuser-Busch and Radio Shack... millions of dollars worth. That's how you go from hero to zero in one day.

I hope the younger pro athletes are following this story because it's the roadmap on what not to do. How many times have we seen top athletes have great careers and blow the entire thing on doping? Instead, they go down in history as drug users. Even for the ones that bounced back, there's always going to be the "what if." What if Darryl Strawberry didn't have the drug years? Maybe we'd be talking about him instead of A-Rod. What about Doc Gooden? He could have easily been the best pitcher in MLB history. McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, A-Rod? If these guys make it to the Hall of Fame, there will always be a virtual asterisk by their names.

Another point I want to make is that there was a bit of good in Armstrong's career... the Livestrong Foundation. Even if his career was not honest, this foundation was a  good thing and still is a strong organization in fighting cancer. I hope people still support it.

A Postseason w/o Derek(rick)

Game 2 really felt like Game 1 of the Bulls 1st round against the 76ers. The Yankees, like the Bulls have enough talent to win this series, but with their captains going down, the inspiration was gone. Kuroda again pitched a great game, but the offense was only able to scrap up 3 hits.

In Game 3, Justin Verlander pitched a 2-hitter into the 9th... the 2 hits coming from Ichiro. The Yankees showed some fight in a 9th inning threat with runners on 1st and 2nd and Ibanez at the plate, but that was as far as they got. Detroit, the team that eliminated the Yankees last year now has a chance to close this out at home.

Return of D-Rose (Part 4)

Yankees Catchup

ALDS
The Yankees finished off the Orioles in Game 5 3-1. It was another close one, but for some reason it felt comfortable the entire time. The Yankees led since the 5th inning and CC was just dominant, pitching 4-hit, 1-run ball in a complete game. Offense wasn't that good on the Yankees side either. They only had 5 hits, but were just lucky to drive in runs when they needed to. Granderson homered. Ibanez had a RBI and so did Ichiro.

Mr. October
The Yankees were down 4-0 in the 9th inning of Game of the ALCS. Martin started a rally with a base hit. Ichiro powered in a timely homer to make it 4-2. Teixiera worked a walk with an 0-2 count. Ibanez came up and everyone knew what was coming... yet another clutch homer to tie the game and send it into extra innings. But the Yankees would not score another run and fell in the 12th. Ibanez came up again in the 11th, but couldn't win the game. It would be too unreal if he did!

Deja Vu
Also in the 12th, Jeter fractured his ankle on a diving grab. This reminded me of the Bulls game where Derrick Rose tore his ACL. The leader went down and the dream of a championship along with it. Hopefully that's not the case, but it just reminded me of it. Fortunately with baseball, if a star is missing, it's not as big as an adjustment as in basketball.

Raul!

Raul! Just as I thought, Hiroki Kuroda pitched a gem at home. However, the Yankees offense was non-existant except for an RBI triple by Jeter. Still down by 1 in the 9th, Ghirardi placed Ibanez in to pinch hit for the slumping A-Rod. It was the right move either way. Ibanez has been clutch all year long and has been on fire since the end of the season. So he hits a game-tying homer... again! A-Rod is the first one to greet him as he crosses the plate. Both teams then went scoreless for 3 innings. Ibanez came up again in the 12th... and hits a game-winning HR... again! The Yankees lead the series 2-1 and can close out tonight.

The news will be around taking A-Rod out, but he's all about the team no matter what the media tries to spin this into. Both the media and many Yankee fans love to hate A-Rod, but they forget that this is a team sport. They have much more to worry about in the opposing dugout than each other. But internal rivalries always make interesting stories even if they're false and constructed from nothing.

Ibanez made a place for himself in Yankees history despite being on the team for less than a year. The Playoffs are the stage to be part of a classic. If you look back, Aron Boone didn't have a particularly good season for the Yankees, but he will be remembered forever for that Red Sox game.... "one of the greatest games you will ever see!"--Michael Kay. Raul Ibanez had a good season with a lot of clutch hits.

Return of D-Rose (Part 3)

Evened Up

The ALDS began over the weekend and the Yankees did their job despite losing the Monday game. The new format is 2-3. The first 2 games are played away and then it's 3 straight at home. So the Yankee split the road trip and come back home with the advantage. In Sunday's Game 1, the weather tried to put a stop to it and ruin both teams' rotations. But after 2+ hours, CC pitched an 8 2/3 inning gem and the team gave him some heavy run support in the 9th for the 7-2 blowout victory.

In Game 2, Andy Pettitte grinded out a nice 3-run performance, but the Yankees offense went cold, only scoring a run in the 1st and then 7th. The opportunities were there, but they stranded 9 runners, actually outhitting the Orioles 9-7.

Kuroda is up in Game 3 tomorrow, so I like our chances. Some other factors to think about though are... we've had trouble getting out of the ALDS in recent years. Also, the Orioles are playing the best baseball in their franchise history.

#1 Again

It came down to the last day, but the Yankees finally got to the top of the AL East. It was a fitting end to the season as they closed  out against the Rival Red Sox at home. With the blowout victory, they also eclipse a franchise record for homeruns in a season... surpassing the recent 2009 team. Now, the Orioles will face the Rays in a 1-game playoff to determine who gets in as the wildcard. The winner will open the playoff against the Yankees.

The Red Sox ended a disappointing season, clinching last place in the AL East. Did anyone not see this coming as soon as they hired Bobby Valentine? He managed to turn a consistent playoff team into a last place one and dismantled the championship core. As a Yankee fan, I think they should give this guy a long-term contract!

On Top for Now

Statistically, the Yankees hold the edge over the O's in the final series of the regular season. They get to face the lowly red Sox while the O's are facing the Rays. The Yankees did their part last night, blowing out their rival. All they needed was a 40-min bottom half of the inning where they powered in 9 of their 10 runs. The Orioles lost their game and fell 1 game behind in the race. There are 2 games left, but it's the Red Sox, so you never know. As bad as they are this year, the record goes away when it's a rivalry series. They want the Orioles to overtake the Yankees. 

The Yankees also have to play hard because it's more than just making the playoffs. There are a lot of questions floating around about the pitching and there's still the season long issue about knocking in runs and relying too much on HRs.

Making it Interesting

Here we are at the last week of the season and it looks like it's going to come down to the wire, at least in the AL East. The Yankees, who had a 10-game lead after the break had an uncharacteristically bad 2nd half. They let the Orioles get within 2 for much of it. They were able to put together some short streaks, but would lose almost enough games to give it back. Pitching has been shaky and they've wasted good outings by Kuroda. Key players have been injured as well.

After the weekend, it's all tied up now. The Red Sox did their part by getting swept by the O's. the Yankees had their troubles with Toronto, but came out of a great comeback game Sunday that will hopefully inspire the team a bit more. Teixiera is back in the lineup tonight.

47

This year, Telemundo 47 celebrates its 47th anniversary. This long time Spanish language station is as much a staple to local broadcast as any of the low numbered English stations. What I know it most for is its super clear reception. From the days of rabbit ear antennas to in-air HD, it's always been the clearest station. When  you first plug in your TV, it's one the only channels if not the only one that gets a perfect picture from anywhere in the city. Out of 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13, you might get partials on 2-3 of them. 13 usually comes out OK. But 47 is always crisp.

The Stepwell

On one of my crowded bus rides recently, the driver looked at the rearview mirror and was yelling at one passenger to get out of the stepwell. The bus was not going to move until that guy got out. Being a typical NYer, the passenger was totally tuning out the driver, with his headphones blasting. He finally realized when everyone else on the bus was signaling him. He had a confused look on his face.

The stepwell rule is a legitimate one even though it's precious space on a crowded train. Remember that scene in Speed when the smaller bomb goes off? The crazy nervous lady was trying to sneak onto the rescue platform when Dennis Hopper only negotiated for the wounded driver to be released. The bomb exploded and there was a hole on the stepwell. The stepwell is just cheap plastic/rubber. It's not part of the heavy metal chassis. So if a bus gets into an accident, the softer fleshy parts are the first to go.

Sword of Azrael: Subway Perv

Slave Pit: Darnell Hardware (nice perv name too) would get himself into crowded trains and rub up against women close by. He would go so far as to ejaculate on them as well... gross! Someone like this has serious problems and should be locked up for good. However, since he didn't use force, it was ruled a misdemeanor rather than a  felony. So he served 1 year and is now free on probation. It won't be long before he repeats.

Excommunication: Anyone involved in this ruling should be fired. Sometimes you have to use common sense when making decisions. This ruling is proof that criminals can get away with anything as long as they make the right arguments.

Yankees Weekend

The Yankees appear to be back on track after losing their once 10-game lead over the Orioles. Recently, they won their series against the Sox, the Rays and the Jays (sweep). Facing one of the hottest teams in the A's, they took 2 out of 3 over the weekend. More important though is that they showed fight in that series. The Yankees have had their troubles this year coming back from deficits after the 8th inning. They won 2 extra inning games against the A's. Game 1 was a 2-1 win in the 10th off a Martin walkoff HR. Game 2 was an odd game where they kept getting and losing the lead. It was tied all the way from the 7th to 13th innings. The A's knocked 4 runs off Garcia. Then the Yankees knocked in 4 of their own. They eventually won it in the 14th... a walkoff error.

The bats are looking really good right now. Jeter has been consistent all year, so no surprise with him. Ichiro has been good since they got him, but this past week has been amazing. What is he batting... like .800? Martin got some confidence with the walkoff. Granderson got his power back. A-Rod is hitting. Cano still needs to get back on track.

Return of D-Rose (Part 2)

Sword of Azrael: Weight Limit

Ronald Post, who is on death row, scheduled to be executed in January for a murder he committed 30 ears ago is arguing that he's too heavy to be killed. He weighs 480 lbs. His argument is that none of the execution devices would work quickly on him. He would suffer too much and it would be inhumane. Did everyone suddenly forget that this guy is guilty of murder!? I have a solution for this... a gunshot to the head! He's worried about the pain and psychological effects. This is an execution though. He's supposed to die. The possible torture would just be a bonus to the family he hurt. This is where the US system is majorly flawed.

Priority List

There are various systems in a typical office that have a priority field. We've got emails that can be marked with a priority. There are bug trackers, to-do lists and project management systems. I never follow the priority field though because too many people misuse the highest level. Everyone thinks that their own thing is the most important task in the world. My priority list always starts with the items  that are worded more nicely. I always want to reward the nice people first. For the angry people... well, they can be angry for another day or two!

Soda Reduction

If you look at all of the recent headlines and graphics about the "Soda Ban," you'd think they were doing away with soda altogether in the city. It would be completely illegal like weed and you'd have to buy it from the black market. Bars would secretly serve it and you'd have to buy it from other states. In reality, it's not that bad at all. In fact, most people won't notice it. The deal is that places that "serve" food won't be able to sell drinks over 16oz. That's the equivalent of a typical plastic bottle size. You can still buy your 2 liter in the supermarket. Normal restaurants don't go above 16oz anyway. This only affects fast food joints and movie theaters, whose drink sizes I feel are too large anyway. So this is a good thing. 

The  question is... will the fast food places and theaters charge the super-sized prices still? It's definitely an opportunity for them to make more of a profit while handing out less product.

iPhone 5

These Apple media events really take away from the product. Hype builds up over the weeks and we get leaked rumors (probably planted). So expectations are always high... so high that the actually release will almost always be disappointing. I felt like the new iPhone wasn't much of a change from the current one. Yes... it's slightly taller and lighter and of course the hardware is upgraded. But it just doesn't feel like a new revolutionary product. It's probably not suppose to, but there was a large  media event. I wonder if I'd think more highly of it if the event never occurred.

On paper, the iPhone 5 still falls slightly short of the Samsung Galaxy S3. The processor is 1.2 vs 1.5. It has half the RAM. Storage is the same, but the S3 has an expandable slot. Cameras are the same, but only hands-on will tell which is better. S3 has the edge in battery life and resolution. I also think the S3 looks more Applelike than the Apple!

Kiddie Tablets

The iPad was probably the worst nightmare for manufacturers of several childrens' toys... particularly the electronics. Companies like Leapfrog made their money on kids toys that looked like computers, laptops and tablets... fake electronics. Many parents however give their kids access to iPads loaded with games and educational programs on them. The iPad covers all ages. Why would some kid play with a Leapfrog afer using an iPad? You might argue price, but then there are the new wave of budget tablets with power, started by the Kindle Fire last year. Toys R Us is about to release their own kiddie tablet for $150. So why would anyone buy a device like that when the Fire and Google Nexus are in the same price range? It's almost destined to fail.

Sword of Azrael: Cuevas' Killer

The Death by Fiery Sword penalty goes to the officer who killed Reynaldo Cuevas during a convenience store robbery. Cuevas, who  was an employee of the store being robbed, found and opportunity to escape from his captors.  As he fled, he was shot and killed by the cops though. This is where the act first policy of the NYPD fails. How could they possible know if Cuevas was a robber or victim without any actions. He wasn't making an aggressive move.

Cuevas was 20 years old and well known for helping kids around his neighborhood. He worked in the US to support his family in the Dominican Rep.

9/11

It's hard to believe that it's yet another anniversary of 9/11. On my path to and from work, there was no indication. It was business as usual for most New Yorkers. Everyone was in a rush. Trains and buses were on schedule. People were getting their coffee on the go. AM and Metro workers were handing out their papers. In fact that's how I was reminded of the date. The AM guy was advertising the 9/11 cover.  

 Security sucked as always too. There were no extra cops and the checkpoints had their usual holes (I'll never mention what these are since it would give too much intel away). It would be obvious for terrorists to attack on an anniversary. It's too predictable for them, but it doesn't mean we should lax up the security because you never know.

Finally Fall?

It's not officially Autumn yet, but the Hallmark Autumn started on Labor Day and nature seemed to follow. The temperatures only dropped  a little bit, but there's a certain character to the air after Labor Day and when school starts up again. On the commute so far, almost everyone switched to long pants. There are still a lot of t-shirts and short sleeves though. The forecast this week has highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's, so it's hard to predict what to wear. A light jacket is always good because it's removable. 2 commuters got extreme. 1 guy wore a dress shirt (which means he also had an undershirt) with a sweater on top. Another guy had a heavy hoodie. To me, that's skipping Fall and going straight to Winter!

Women's Final

The US Open almost felt like Wimbledon with its rain delays. Instead of a Super Saturday, the final was played on Sunday night prime time. It was as good as a 3-set game could be, featuring the 2 best players in Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka. Both players had great tournament runs and showed a lot of power. Azarenka was the first to strike with a dominant 6-2 set. Serena countered with a 6-2 herself. Then it was Azranka again off to a 5-3 lead in the 3rd. The championship was in reach. Then Serena came all the way back for the win. It was definitely one of the better women's finals I've seen. It had the back and forth, but would've been nice if it had some longer rallies.

 The Men's Final was pushed to tomorrow... normally would've been early this morning.

US Open Update

Andy Roddick 
I think the biggest shocker so far has nothing to do with wins and upsets. It's the announcement of Andy Roddick's retirement. He's only 30 years old and still playing well. He's always bounced back from injuries and if not for 2 very special players in Federer and Nadal, Roddick would certainly have more than one Grand Slam title (2003 US Open). I honestly think that this won't be the last of him. He's going to try it for a while and then get bored. Tennis players have been known for making comebacks and maybe he just needs an extended break.

Williams Doubles 
Venus and Serena have dominated the doubles tournament, winning 13 in all... the most in Open Era history. They're both very strong individual players and when you put them on the same side, they're nearly invincible. But they lost this year to the Russian team of Kirilenko and Petrova.

Money for Science

Apparently, a new study shows that use of an electronic device while walking is unsafe for teens aged 16-19. Really!? You needed a scientific study to determine that? Sometimes people think too hard and just completely forget about common sense. And how did they come up with the age range? Does that mean it has a different affect for someone 15, 20... or 45? It's unsafe for everyone! I can tell you that without conducting a study and wasting good money that could have gone into something more useful.

If there are colleges out there that have science majors interested in things like this, they should really cut those programs. Using common sense should be part of all professions. Letting out students who do this kind of thing hurts the advancement of science.

The Good Announcement

Commuters are already used to the various train delays. Our brains already react the moment we hear the PA system go off when it's not to announce the next stop. This morning, when I heard, "ladies and gentlemen..." on the PA, I already thought it was some kind of delay. It's usually a sick passenger, police investigation or signal problem. The best you could hope for is train traffic because that's a short delay compared to the others. The PA continued, "...because of an earlier incident..." It was definitely bad, I thought. Then he surprised me by ending it with "... we're skipping xxxx and xxxx. The next stop will be  xxxx." So the train I was on got a slight speed boost. After an earlier delay, which didn't affect my train, we skipped 2 stops!

Maria & Galaxy Tab

What a great combination of sports and technology! It looks pretty stupid when they hold it up like a phone, but Maria's still pretty!

Weekend Sports Wrapup

Yankees
The Yankees won their series against the Indians, but they dropped the second game, wasting another good performance by Hiroki Kuroda. He gave up 3 runs, but all the offense could pick up was one. That was a lost opportunity. With a bad 2nd half record, they needed to take advantage of this weaker team. Game 1 was a 3-1 victory behind a dominant 8-inning performance for CC Sabathia's return. Yesterday's 4-1 win needed a team pitching effort and 11 hits from the offense.

US Open
This weekend kicked off all the festivities and events at Arthur Ashe, bringing life to the city within a city that's  a ghost town for most of the year. Nadal is still nursing injuries and will not compete in this event. So I'm going to skip a lot of matches in this one as well. It'll likely be Federer vs Djokovic in the finals. Murray also has a shot of upsetting either one of them. If Roddick gets in the zone, he also has a slight chance. For the women, it could be Serena if she can keep from getting fined! Maria and Venus always have shots if they getting on a good winning streak. Clijisters will retire after this one, so expect a strong final push from her as well.

Return of D-Rose (Part 1)

End of Summer?

We've had a full week of Fall-like weather now. Could this already be the end of the Summer, 2 weeks before the marketing end of Labor Day? I think this Summer was a lot milder than most people thought. Yes... we did have super hot days, but they alternated with very unusually cold, sub-70  degree days. Upstate NY got a tornado, but city dwellers dodged anything extreme. Maybe the Summer seemed hot because it lacked rain. We didn't have many days with showers or thunderstorms. Even the thunderstorms that hit lasted minutes and were smaller than predicted.

Weekend Sport Wrapup

Yankees
It was rivalry weekend again at Yankee Stadium, in a weird schedule that buts all of the NY games in the 2nd half of the season. This time, the Yankees took the series 2-1, to make it something like 9-4 for the season. Yesterday's game was an excellent closeout to the 3-game set as Kuroda pitched another gem. He gave up 1 run on 4 hits right after his 2-hit complete game. Jeter had 3 hits and continues to climb up in baseball history. Ichiro had 2 solo homers.

Melky
Ever though there was something suspicious about Melky's breakout year? He's been out of the spotlight since leaving NY, then all of a sudden he's putting up MVP numbers. The 50-game suspension by the MLB is last week's news, but Melky also setup a fake website for the drug to try to clear himself. So that's being investigated as well.

Muay Thai
Two of the top female fighters, Julie Kitchen and Miriam Nakamoto fought each other in San Diego. As in most women's bouts, this one started out in all out offense as they both came out swinging all 8 Muay Thai weapons. Miriam was cut in the 2nd round, but her cutman was able to stop the fight. She got the OK to continue. She went into desperation mode and scored a ton of points to earn the unanimous decision.

Bus Stop... per

At a bus stop that I pass each day, there was an old man with a walker this morning. He was the lone customer waiting for the bus. When it arrived, he slowly made his way up and paid the fare.... coin by coin. In the time it took him to get through, 4 other customers who weren't even at the stop materialized and made it on! The old man was a good bus stopper for those running a little late. It just sucked for the passengers already on the bus!

Jackie Chan V8

It's good to see Jackie Chan again. I was surprised with this commercial because I wasn't expecting him to pop in!

Subway Tales: Crazy Eyes

No... this won't be a post about a Subway Tales character that looks like Kurt Thomas! Crazy Eyes is a woman who gets on a few stops after I do. She's a middle aged woman with long black hair and streaks of grey. She's about 5'2" and always wears a mini skirt. But her most prominent feature is her huge, round, staring eyes. They're further accented by her round glasses. She looks scary enough to be in one of those Japanese horror flicks!

Weekend Sports Wrapup

Olympics
The Olympics always feels short as we wait another 4 years for 2 weeks of intense competition. I didn't feel like I got into as much this time. I watched the swimming, track & field, random stuff and a couple of basketball games. I didn't watch as much gymnastics as usual for some reason. For tennis, I only watched a few Ivanovic matches. I think I would have watched more if Nadal was in it and if Derrick Rose wasn't injured. He still has another shot in 4 years though.

Basketball
Team USA won as expected, but it was a close final against Spain. Spain actually had a shot at  winning too if they didn't turn the ball over so much and connected on just a few more 3's. In the bronze medal game, Russia upset Argentina on a controversial play at the end. That's really not how you want a game to end, especially one involving a medal. 

Yankees
The Yankees drop another series and also lose CC Sabathia to the DL. Phil Hughes lost yesterday in a 10-7 slugfest. So far, no starter that's not injured has shown consistency except perhaps, Kuroda. The bullpen has also been shaky. Robertson this year isn't lights out and on many occasions, they had to rely on a 3+ out Soriano save.

Medal Count

All of the newspapers and people watching the Olympics are wrapped up in the medal count, particularly the US and China since those are the 2 at the top. The US will likely finish with more just because they're in most of the events at the end of the competition. There's a lot more to this than the total number though. If you look at the batting average, China is winning because they have a lot less athletes. If this was baseball, there would be no question about it. If there are 2 players, with a close number of hits, but a big difference in average... 1 guy has 100 hits and .250 avg and another guy has 85 hits with .310 avg, clearly the .310 is better. With the Olympics, there are just too many factors to compare countries one-to-one. China has different specialties as does the US. Some event yield more medals than others. There's also # of teams sports vs individual sports. When it comes down to it, the total count doesn't mean much except that it's a number for people who don't want to think too much and writers who need material. The only true comparison is when you look at each competition separately... which is what the Olympics is all about anyway.

VISA: Phelps' 19th

A commercial that would be outdated soon! It's still great though... love the gold hue and Morgan Freeman narration.

Weekend Sports Wrapup

Swimming
Michael Phelps completed his career with 22 medals (16 gold) as he finished the fly and a really strong.  That capped an Olympic that he started slow and had the press thinking he was done after his first race. And it extended a record that won't be broken for a long time. I think the closest leader in gold medals is something like 9 or 10. It can only be broken by an athlete who competes in multiple events and he/she has to start racking them up at 14 or 15 years old!

Yankees
The Yankees finally won a series as the Mariners visited for the first time since the Ichiro trade. CC pitched a complete game, giving up just 3 runs... all at the end. Kuroda lost his in a 1-0 pitcher's duel. So that was a good 3-game.

Tennis
No surprise on the women's side... Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova for the gold. The William's sisters also won the doubles gold. On the men's side, Andy Murray finally beat Roger Federer on his home turf.

Sword of Azrael

James Holmes
This guy easily wins the Death by Fiery Sword penalty. He planned to kill all of those people in the theater and then tried to fake insanity. There's no punishment that will ever be equivalent to what he has done unless they implement my idea of torturing him to near death and then reviving him x the number of murders he committed. I think I'm going to name a new penalty... 100 Deaths.

Badminton Players
8 players... 4 from China, 2 from Korea and 2 from Indonesia get the Excommunication penalty for trying to fix the Olympic Games by losing their matches. Badminton is a tournament style and these pairs purposely and obviously lost to try to get a weaker draw next round. This goes against everything the Olympics stands for.

Grades Are In

This year's subway grades are in and here are the results:

Amount of Service
Best = 6
Worst = C

Regularity
Best = J/Z
Worse = 5

Breakdowns
Best = E
Worst = C

Seating
Best = R
Worst = 5

Cleanliness
Best = 1
Worst = C

Announcements
Best = 4/Q
Worst = 7

Phelps vs Lochte

This is the ultimate showdown. There's no medal, no tournament and no crowds... just Ryan and Michael going at it at a normal pool to who's the best!

Midweek Sports Update

Yankees
The Yankees continue to lose series... last night to the 2nd place Orioles, who have really cut the nice 10-game lead. When the Yankees went up 5-0, I was thinking that they finally woke up. Then Nova gave up 7 runs the next inning. While he's had a good start to the year, he's been terrible since a couple of weeks before the break. Our most solid pitchers have been CC and Kuroda, who actually looked bad in the beginning. 

Bulls
Yesterday, in a surprise move, the Bulls picked up G Nate Robinson. I thought it was strange because it's been part of the Bulls recruiting habit to consider personality. Robinson has always been a guy that would talk better than actually play the game... unless he's grown up a little since playing for the Knicks. We'll see I guess. I imagine he'd be a bench warmer on a team that had Hinrich and Hamilton.

Swimming
Michael Phelps, although a little slower this time around was still able to make history. He racked up a silver in his specialty fly  event and then a gold in the relay, making him the most decorated Olympian of all-time with 19 medals. Of those 19, 15 are gold, which is far beyond the record. While Phelps is not the superman he was 4 years ago, he's still a great champion personality-wise.

Olympics
A few weeks ago, I completely forgot that it was an Olympic year.It hasn't been in the news or talked about much. I guess that happens when it's not being hosted in the US. But it kicked off this weekend and is now all over the news, commercials and Internet. I watched on and off, channel surfing events most of the time. Ana Ivanovic won her opening round against an American. The USA Basketball team blew out France as expected. Michael Phelps lost to Ryan Lochte and actually finished 4th... the first time he's failed to medal since he was 15 years old.

Yankees
The Yankees lost their series to the Red Sox 2 games to 1, but the concern is their record since the break. They've just been losing series. They used to have a 1-game lead over the 2nd place Orioles and now it's dwindled to 5 or 6. They're really going to have to make up some ground this week if they want to get into the playoffs safely.

Yankees vs Olympics

It's going to be a crazy sports weekend as the Olympics opens up tonight as well as Ichiro's first game in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. It's going to be tough to keep up with both events. NBC announced a few days ago that they will be showing every single event in one form or another, whether it be on one of their many cable stations, through their app or steaming online. They're really going to show every event, even the minor ones like badminton! I'll definitely check it out on the iPad and laptop. It'll be interesting if I can sustain multiple streams across my standard cable connection... depends on how well they did their compression.

Long Trip West

What a trip the Yankees just got back from! First they get swept by the A's in 4 games... all by a single run. These were games they would win for sure if Gardner had been on the team... the extra hit... the fast guy causing confusion to the opposing defense.  Then The Yankees walked into Seattle, stole their star and played him right in the same game as trade day! In the next game, they lose A-Rod to a broken hand as he was the 3rd player beaned by King Felix. Yesterday, they had a come-from-behind victory on Jason Nix's bases-clearing double in the 8th. Overall, it was a bad road trip. All we can take away from it is one of baseball's best hitters & outfielders in Ichiro. 

Olympian Ana

The tennis season is going to lengthened this year with the addition of the Olympic tournament. So hats off to anyone competing in the Olympics. Good luck to Ana Ivanovic!

Ichiro!

I just heard after I posted the weekend wrapup! The news that the Yankees signed Ichiro caught me by surprise. Sure... Gardner's out for the year and they needed to find speed. But Ichiro's the best player in baseball! It's crazy to have him and Jeter on the same team.

   

 This is great. An outfield spot gets filled as well as the need for speed on the offensive side. I wonder if the 4-game sweep had anything to do with it.

Weekend Sports Wrapup

Yankees
The Yankees had a terrible start to their road trip, getting swept by the A's in a 4-game set. All games were by 1 run, including an extra inning walkoff in yesterday's finale. Before the series,they had a nice, comfortable 1st place lead. Now it's been cut to a 5 or 6 game one with the O's playing a little better. Big leads can go away easily in baseball. Because they play almost every day, a winning streak and losing streak can make them disappear. The other reality check for the Yankees is that Gardner will likely not return this season. Their offense operates differently without him as they don't have that leadoff runner. They're also losing outs from Gardner's field coverage. They're pretty much in the same position as the Bulls last year. They may have enough of a bench to get 1st place and even the best record in baseball, but they won't win a championship with workarounds.

Bulls
Omer Asik signed the offer  sheet with the Rockets and the Bulls will likely stretch the deadline and then decline. So far, all of the moves the Bulls have made are downgrades. With Rose injured most of the season, it feels like management is throwing away the 2012-2013 season. They pretty much broke up the bench mob who carried the team last year.

Derrick Rose Checks In

More Fall

The weather this weekend was perfect. Yesterday was nice and breezy and stayed in the low 70's. I even had to close my window at night because it was a little too cold. Today was a little warmer, but not even close to normal Summer temperatures. All this came after the Friday thunderstorms.

The 5-day forecast shows thunderstorms again, but they'll have the opposite effect when temperatures shoot up on Tuesday to 90 degrees.

Bulls Movement

Yesterday, the Bulls acquired Vladimir Radmonovic after losing Kyle Korver. That fills a 3-point shooter role, but Korver was the league's best. So the Bulls are currently downgraded. Korver has also become a good defender in his years as a Bull. Radmonovic would be starting from scratch since he's known for offense only. The Bulls are still waiting on closure of the Asik offer sheet, but it seems like everyone is expecting him to go to Houston. After that move, the Bulls can go ahead with the Hinrich contract officially. They'll also need to look for a low salary big man if they end up letting Asik go. One guy with potential could be Darko Milicic... he guy that kept the bench warm for the Champion Pistons! 

Houston... We Have Linsanity

As expected, Jeremy Lin will play for the Houston Rockets next season as the Knicks fail on their promise to match the offer sheet. I'm very happy for Lin. He'll be in a better organization. There will also be less media distraction than NYC, so he can improve his basketball better there.

The Rockets are taking a gamble, signing a 3-year $25 million contract based on the partial season Lin played last year, but they have the money available and I think it's a good bet that he can be an effective starter and core player. The Knicks had no intention of resigning Lin, so they were just looking for an excuse to cover themselves when Dolan mentioned he didn't like how Lin restrucctured the deal with the Rockets. It didn't matter. They weren't going to match anyway! And Lin wouldn't havee gotten the playing time. It's a new start and I think he'll do fine in the defense-lacking Western Conference.

Subway Tales: Chasers

This is actually a bus story, but the Subway Tales series is about the morning commute in general. Often when you're getting on a bus, there will be one guy chasing after it, hoping the driver will wait up for him. It's a 50/50 shot. Sometimes the driver will and other times, he will just pretend he didn't see the chaser. I'm OK with either. The bus needs to run on schedule to benefit everyone. So I'm cool if I miss a bus that's in sight. It's also nice of the driver to stop for someone running. But here's another thing that's common with chasers... they'll run fast and then slow down when they realize the driver is waiting for them. They should hustle out of respect for the driver's kindness... and also everyone else on the train that they are delaying!

MLB All-Star Game

I say it every year, but it's really nice to have an All-Star game that counts for something. It ends up being fun to watch. The showboating of the NBA All-Star game has made it as  boring as the Celebrity or Freshman/Sophomore game. You know a team is playing for keeps when they put a lot of thought into the starting pitcher. RA Dickey is hands down the best pitcher in baseball at the break, but yet the NL could not start him because they needed to match the knuckleballer with a specialist catcher. This angered Mets  fans, but people have to  realizee that this is not an exhibition. If they started everyone based on votes and performance, Dickey could have thrown wild pitches to a catcher who can't handle his pitches. Despite the bad press, La Russa made the right decision and it played out... the NL won 8-0. If the Mets make make the World Series, they get homefield. I don't think fans will be complaining if that happens.

On a side note, the game was  pretty much decided in the first inning when the NL knocked 5 runs in off Justin Verlander of all pitchers!

Weekend Sports Wrapup

Yankees vs Red Sox
While it wasn't quite the Boston Massacre I wanted, I'll certainly take 3 out of 4. The series got of to a quick start as both clubs came out swinging in the early innings. It was a hitters game from the beginning and all the way throughout. Both clubs nearly emptied their entire pens in the 10-8 Yankees win. Yankees won 6-1 in Saturday's day game and dropped the night game as the Red Sox came from behind. The Yankees then capped the series by taking the closer 7-3 on Sunday.

Wimbledon
OK... so I tried to watch this tournament, but only ended up seeing the finals because Nadal had an early exit. There wasn't really anything exciting about it. Andy Murray played a good match against Roger Federer, winning the first set and keeping it close for the next two. He really wanted to finally win one in front of  his home crowd, but Federer was also hungry. He hadn't won a major in some time. And it's been Nadal or Djokovic at the 1 spot.

Bulls
The Bulls erased one of their mistakes during "The Decision" a couple of years ago by bringing Kirk Hinrich back. It all seems like this was meant to happen. Hinrich never moved from his off-season home in Chicago and now returns when they Bulls really need his skills as a combo guard. Taking Derrick Rose's spot during his injury puts the Bulls back on the playoff map. Then sharing the point with Rip when Rose returns will make them a stronger team than last year. Next  up, the Bulls have to match the Rockets' offer to Asik. He's an important piece because having Asik off the bench means there's no step back in the event of a  Noah injury or off-night.

NBA Movement
In other NBA free agency moves:
- Jason Kidd signed with the Knicks
- Deron Williams signed with the Nets
- Steve Nash signed with the Lakers

Humpday 4th

What's bad about July 4th on a Wednesday is the day after. One day off in the middle of the week doesn't really give you a pure vacation day because you have to schedule your night preparing for work the next day. It especially affects this holiday because July 4th is all about nighttime events. Falling on Monday or Friday creates a nice long weekend. On Tuesday and Thursday, it's close enough to the weekend that some nice companies will give the extra day.

On the bright side of things, July 5th is also a good workday. With the 4th falling right in the middle of the week, many employees take Thursday and Friday off. It was almost like December in the office today!

Parr Vs. Tai

Here's John Wayne Parr's cage match vs. Jordan Tai. I think this is going to be a new trend starting up. We likely won't see it in the US though... at least in NYC. 

Weekend Sports Wrapup

Yankees
Down 2 aces and the Yankees are still hanging in their as they won the series against a division leading Chicago White Sox.  It was also their first look  at Kevin Youkilis after the trade last week. Game 1 on Friday would have been CC's game, but the Yankees brought up Adam Warren to start in the injured ace's place. This was pretty mucha  throw away game based on that, but I had no idea Warren would get knocked out so early (3rd), especially after being given a 4-0 lead. He gave it right back. Phelps came in and gave up a few more. Then Wade, who has done a 180 since the beginning of the season got clobbered as well. In the loss, the Yankees placed Dewayne Wise in relief of Wade and he got the final 2 outs! Saturday and Sunday were a lot different as Kuroda and Hughes stepped up and pitched the way they were supposed to. Cano's hot HR streak continued as well.

Bulls
The Bulls picked Marquis Teague at #29. While that would be no news to most clubs, everyone on the Bulls always makes in impact. The hard  work from the existing team always carries over to the kids. Look for his name next season!

Dark Knight Rises - Trailer 4

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!

Hands-free or Loose Screws?

Back when cellphones first made it out to the public, the rare person with a handsfree headset always looked like a crazy person. This especially goes for NYers since there are plenty of crazies walking around talking to themselves already. Here we are, many years later with Bluetooth sets and they still look like lunatics! This morning, I was in a quiet, but full subway car. While it was above ground, a woman was talking in a normal tone. I looked over and she wasn't talking to anyone... a one-sided conversation. She was on the phone with a Bluetooth set. I guess these things make people look crazy because once they're on the phone, they're in their own world. They imagine the friend on the other line talking to them in person. The woman didn't even realize she was blocking the path to the doorway and almost made another woman miss her stop!

Basketball 101

If you asked anyone who the best team was out in the West, most would have answered the OKC Thunder. It was the Spurs who quietly got the 1st seed. They have nothing flashy and no single scoring leader like Durant. For them, it was all about the solid core, great roleplayers and solid fundamental basketball. Last night, they went up 2-0 against OKC and they have made things look easy so far.  In Game 2, it was all Spurs as they took their young opponents to school. How many times did Manu cut to the basket and kick out for a 3!? They even got Harlem Globetrotter moves in there! OKC did make a run at the end of the 3rd and part of the 4th, but the Spurs took the punch and went on for the win. That game was a lesson in Playoff basketball.

True Champ

"I'm not going anywhere. You can print that wherever you want to. I'm here and I'm a Spur for life."
--Tim Duncan

That was Tim Duncan after winning Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. This is the kind of mentality that makes a team successful. The organization loves it. The fans love it. And loyalty like this filters down to all teammates. It's why the Spurs have held together the strongest core since Michael Jordan's Bulls. I wish there was more of this in the NBA. After Duncan retires, I can only say that I see this in Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant. No one else comes to mind.

Memorial Weekend Sports Wrapup

NBA East
In a close game 7, the Boston Celtic earned the series  win against the Philadelphia 76ers. I thought the Sixers were the better, deeper team, but playoff experience gave the Celtics the edge. I would have liked to see thee hardworking Sixers play it out with the Heat. It would have been a similar series to the expected Bulls vs. Heat. Now Miami will probably just run over Boston. They started it last night with a blowout victory.

NBA West
The Western Conference should be more exciting with 2 of the best teams in the league. Game 1 on Sunday didn't disappoint as  the game was close throughout. The Spurs were even down 9 at the start of the 4th. Then Ginobili came in and did what he usually does... close games off the bench. The Spurs earned the 2nd best record in the NBA and played without Manu for most of the season. So it means they're even stronger than they were before.It's like the best team adding an additional All-Star for the postseason!

Yankees
A series sweep of the A's gave the Yankees their first 5-game streak of the year. More importantly, sleeping bats came alive. A-Rod and Teixiera seemed to have broken out of their slumps. As a result, more RISP were batted in. In Game 3, Hiroki Kuroda pitched a 4-hit gem and won the pitcher's duel 2-0. And Jeter continued his assault on the all-time hits leaderboard, passing George Brett for #14.

No Chivalry Please

Chivalry doesn't pay when you're exiting a bus or train. This is mainly because it's too hard to tell if someone intends to exit or not. If you need to get out the next stop, just go right up to the door.  The person standing near it is more likely a blocker than someone trying to get out the next stop. This is more of a problem in the bus where the doorway really only fits one person. There's always one idiot who stands there and isn't even getting off an upcoming stop. If you're getting, just stand right next to him and shove him out of the way if necessary. He shouldn't be blocking if he's not exiting. I'm waiting for the day someone blocks the door completely so I can shove him right out of the bus!

Yankees' Finest

Who would have thought that Andy Pettitte would come back from retirement so quickly and pick up right where he left off. As of now, I feel he's the best guy in the rotation. Everyone else, CC included has been shaky and inconsistent. Pettitte lost his first game, but if you break it down, he really only made a couple of mistake and got little run support. I don't think he looked rusty in his first game at  all. Then he pitched a 9-strikeout, 8-inning shutout game  for his 2nd. Last night was another high strikeout game (8 I think) as the Yankees won 8-2. I think the players even feel more  confident when Pettitte is on the mound.

Subway Tales: The Long Way

"We'll take the long way."
- Queen Amidala

 ...says Queen Amidala after clearing the hangar area. Darth Maul had just appeared behind the blast doors for the "short way." Just like in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, sometimes taking the long way ends up being faster than the shortest path when it comes to navigating the subway dungeons. I'm not talking about the layout of the lines. It's the slow moving people. They tend to clog the shortest route. So it's ironic that the fast movers need to go around them. When the subway doors open and I'm not the closest one to the stairs, I will head for the far side of the steps rather than the close side because I know the close side will get clogged first.

Weekend Sports Wrapup

Yankees
Andy Pettitte pitched one of  his best games on Friday night. It was just his second game back from retirement and he showed no rust at all. He struck out 9 batters in 8 shutout innings. The Yankees were locked in a pitcher's duel with former Red Sox Bronson Arroyo until they knocked him out of the 8th. That was the only good new for the Yankees this weekend though. They ended up losing their 1st interleague series against the Red, dropping 2 close ones after Friday's big win. It's the usual slow start, but the problem this year is that they'll have to go the rest of the season without Rivera. So it may not be the same story. On top of that, Robertson is also on the DL now, sliding Soriano over to the closer role and Logan to setup.

NBA
The Spurs closed out the Clippers last night, keeping their win streak alive. They're the most dangerous team in the Playoffs right now because they're in a groove. They haven't lost in over a month, which means they forgot how to. The Pacers made things exciting when they went 2-1 over Miami, but they lost yesterday and now it's all even.

Alternates

With the Bulls eliminated from the Playoffs, I would like to see one of these teams win it all and here's why:

Pacers
They are the lone representative of the Central Division now. The improvements they made this year remind me of when the Bulls broke out of the post-Jordan losing streak. The Pacers play with effort and teamwork. They have a good leader in Danny Granger who plays the right way and says the right things.

Sixers
Doug Collins is part of the Bulls family. He did a great job making something out of nothing, building the first Philly team that's got a shot since Allen Iverson. Andre Iguodala deserves it as well. He's a guy that's worked hard for years, but has never had the right system around him. The Sixers are very much like the Bulls and Pacers. All are built with good pieces and are products of years of growth.

Thunder
They are the Bulls of the West. The make up of the team is comparable to the present-day Bulls... solid core, great role-players and depth all the way to the last man. Even with rising stars on the team like Westbrook and Durant, no one has an ego. Durant is very much like Derrick Rose. If a Western team wins, I'd prefer it to be OKC.

Spurs
This is the team with the closest thing to a dynasty since the 90's Bulls and Duncan originally came aboard during that era. They have had a solid core for years... probably longer than any team. They play with great fundamentals. I feel like this is a 90's style team that's getting the job done against the teams making all the headlines.