CP3, New Years, Heartbreak

Hello everyone.

As the whirlwind that was the last 2-3 weeks gives way to the so-called "normalcy" provided by the dreaded "daily grind", I finally have a chance to sit down and bust out some thoughts. Here we go...

First of all, I want to mention the one night I had in Dayton with my best/closest friends from home, sans Derek aka Big D Baller aka C*** Diesel aka Big D Harp aka D-Rock. With the exception of somewhat upsetting my better half (holed up in dreary Seattle visiting family with a lack of viable things to keep herself busy), it was a great, fun night that I have learned to cherish because they unfortunately are now so few and far between. I've met and made friends with people from all over the country and even some from across the globe, but there will always be a special bond with those friends I grew up with, most of whom I've known since junior high or earlier. A great night and I'm already looking forward to the next one, whenever that may be...

The night before I flew out of Indianapolis back to Phoenix, I went to a Pacers game at beautiful, and I mean absolutely beautiful, Conseco Fieldhouse. If you never go to Indiana for any other reason (and as I think about possible other reasons, I'm finding it difficult to come up with any), GO there and watch the Pacers play at Conseco Fieldhouse. By faaaaar the best basketball arena I've ever been to.

The fact that the Pacers currently aren't great record wise, who cares, although they do provide more backing to the "too many white guys" rule than any other basketball team ever assembled. The Portland "Jail Blazers" of the early to mid 2000s, with their compilation of ex-cons, are obviously the polar opposites. As politically incorrect as that might be to say, it's true and you all know it. No basketball team, regardless of what level (elementary to the NBA) can be expected to win vs. decent competition with more than one or two (MAX) white guys on the floor for any prolonged period of time, they just can't. You might be able to get away with two or more if at least one of them is not really "white" (in this context), ya know, like Jason Kidd when he played in New Jersey and apparently got no exposure to the ball of fire we call the sun for like four years, or Jason Williams formerly of Marshall University, the Sacramento Kings and Miami Heat.

I'm talking white guys like Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Travis Deiner, Jeff Foster, Josh McRoberts and Rasho Nesterovic, all of whom reside on the Indiana Pacers '08-'09 roster...AND shockingly all of them except McRoberts receive considerable playing time. My advice to the Pacers would be to keep Murphy and Dunleavy, play them together sparingly (maybe even sub them in and out for each other) and let the rest of those white boys go. If they ran out a lineup of Jarrett Jack, Brandon Rush, Danny Granger (secretly a GREAT player), Murphy/Dunleavy and Roy Hibbert, they'd almost guaranteed win a few more games this year and be much better in the years to come because of the experience they would gain simply playing (Rush and Hibbert specifically) and playing together.

Anyways, the Pacers are competitive night in and night out and only lost the game I was at on a buzzer beater by former Xavier All-American David West. CP3 was quietly excellent until the 4th quarter when he decided (and I mean literally decided, you could practically see a conscious decision he made to completely take over the game in the 4th quarter) to show everyone why he's hands down the best point guard alive. No offense to Deron Williams (his closest contemporary) or Jason Kidd or Steve Nash (still active but past their respective primes), but Chris Paul has a legitimate chance to go down as one of the best (like top 5) if not THE best point guard to ever play the game. I have a feeling in 15-20 years there will be many bar stool best 5 ever conversations that reach a general consensus of Chris Paul, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Bill Russell and Shaquille O'Neal. No disrespect to the old timers but the modern era of basketball simply squeezes them out of the first team, with the exception of Russell. The second team could look something like this: Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, your choice of Elgin Baylor or Larry Bird, Tim Duncan and then your choice of Wilt Chamberlain or Kareem Abber-Jabber, as my dad tends to refer to him. Now I realize you might think I'm getting ahead of myself exalting CP3 to first team, all-time status (and maybe I am), but the kid is THAT good. Go watch the Hornets. Maybe even watch them at Conseco Fieldhouse next time they're there...two birds with one stone, ya know.

On New Years Eve, I went to the Block Party held annually on Mill Ave. in Tempe. It's supposed to be one of the biggest New Years parties in the country with over 100,000 people every year. It was a good time for the most part, pretty typical New Years type stuff going on. I really like New Years, for the obvious reasons, but also because the start of a new year is a refreshing and revitalizing thing. Life is tough and the hope and opportunity to start fresh provided by New Years is a great and seemingly rare occurrence. So here's to a wonderful 2009...

I planned on writing yesterday, but because I couldn't yet bring myself to write about the heartbreaking experience that was this year's Fiesta Bowl, I waited until today. I was lucky enough to be in attendance for Monday night's thriller and with the exception of the last two minutes/final score, it was truly a great, great experience. The Cardinals Stadium (I refuse to address it by the name of a fake university that stains the good name of the city of Phoenix and confuses people everywhere into thinking the Cardinals moved from Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium into the brand new sporting palace that a made up online school with no real sports or degrees supposedly calls home) is absolutely beautiful, a modern marvel.

Texas and Ohio State are programs with long and storied histories (and a very recent strong history against each other) and were pitted against each other in the BCS bowl season's supposed biggest mismatch (along with Utah-Alabama, which turned out to be a mismatch in the complete opposite way than expected). The game turned out to be a classic back and forth college bowl game that came down to the wire, with Texas scoring the winning (and absolutely heartbreaking) touchdown with only 16 seconds left to play. Were there a playoff in Division 1 college football, Texas would be a strong pick to win the whole thing. But since there isn't, they'll have to live with props from me. Texas has a great, GREAT quarterback in Colt McCoy, a great coach in Mack Brown and has been a respected program throughout their long history. That said, watch out for Mr. Run, Throw AND Catch Touchdowns Terrelle Pryor and The Ohio State Buckeyes in 2009. They'll be fantastic and in the hunt for another national title.

And for all you Ohio State haters, we'll see you in the BCS next year, IF your team even makes it. Convenient how everyone hates the Buckeyes for 'supposedly' living off their name and being entirely overrated when the law of statistics demands they (the haters) almost certainly back one of the 116 D-1 teams that aren't USC, Oklahoma or Ohio State, who happen to have played in a BCS bowl SEVEN out of the eleven years the BCS has existed. Also, fair or not, why does Oklahoma get a free pass when their BCS misfortunes equal if not surpass those of Ohio State's recent trouble???? Oklahoma is 2-4 in BCS games, 4 losses in a row, 2 in title games, a national title game BLOWOUT to USC (55-19) worse than either of OSU's title game losses, a blowout loss to West Virginia (48-28) and a loss to Boise State in, admittedly, one of the best bowl games I've ever seen. If they lose tomorrow night to Florida (which I think they will) they'll be 2-5 with FIVE straight BCS losses, THREE in National Championship games. That'll be FAAARRR worse than Ohio State's 4-3 BCS record. OSU beat a Miami team that was a 13 point favorite riding a THIRTY-FOUR game winning streak to win the undisputed 2002 national title. The other three BCS wins came against 2 different Big 12 champions and an annihilation of a 9-2, Brady Quinn led Notre Dame team. I find no shame in losing to 2 national champions in LSU and Florida and a Texas team this year that should be playing for the national title tomorrow night but instead got thoroughly, 2004 Auburn-style screwed out of the chance to win a national championship. All the more reason for a playoff...but that's a WHOLE 'nother story. Anyways, Ohio State isn't going anywhere so get used to it haters.

**I apologize if that last rant seemed over the top or lost your attention, I just had to get some of that off my chest.

We're creeping closer and closer to inauguration day and the official beginning of the Obama administration. I have very mixed feelings so far about him. I like most of his appointments, how he carries himself and that he seems to understand the IMMENSE responsibilities he's about to assume as President of the United States. And although it doesn't matter one bit, I like that he plays basketball, generally likes sports, walks around with his shirt off on the beach (not saying that in any sort of homo-erotic way, simply that he's ok with being laid back and cool AND photographed, not dorky and hidden from the camera like most presidents) and is all in all the first "cool/hip" President we've ever seen. I do not like his vagueness on most every issue, the pictures I've recently seen showing him with his hands in his pockets during the national anthem and that he does not wear an American flag pin, his track record as the most liberal senator in the US or his plans to "redistribute", which basically means TAKE you and I's money and GIVE it to someone "less fortunate". We'll see how all this plays out...

Gotta run, until next time...