Riding with the window down…

I got a call yesterday from Ron asking if I wanted to go to the Spurs - Suns playoff game… the price was right (free) so of course, I said yes. Ron is friends with one of the Spurs dancers who was a dancer for the Texas Copperheads arena team and she totally gave us the hookup.

Now, I know from the looks of these photos, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of basketball going on - trust me though, it was a good game.

An interesting side note is that this was the fourth time I have seen Shaquille O’Neal play live - once for the Orlando Magic, twice for the Los Angeles Lakers, and now, once for the Phoenix Suns. This is the first game I have seen him lose.

It’s a hard life.

If you want to see more of the pictures - check them out on my Flickr page.

Sitting across the court from me at the Merrell Center is none other than one of my all-time favorite basketball players. A.C. Green not only set the record for consecutive games without missing a start (1,192) but only missed three in his 14 years of play. A large portion of those years were spent as the backbone of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Green played alongside such greats as Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and more. These are the guys that won five titles in the 80’s.

He is in town to watch his nephew (Kevyn Green) who plays for the Southeastern Louisiana Lions.

Ron and I attended the opening round of the Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament last night in Katy, Texas and instead of watching the Texas State Bobcats roll to the championship, we witnessed history.

I was courtside LIVE blogging the event for the readers of Newstreamz.com San Marcos, and Ron was roving the sidelines taking photos.

Photo courtesy of Ron Oswalt, Newstreamz.com

Not only did the heavily-favored Texas State Bobcats lose to the bottom seed in the tournament, the Islanders made history in several ways.

It is sad to see the Bobcats’ championship run end this way after they delivered such a great regular season, but the saying is “that’s why they play ‘em.” Because they won the regular season championship and failed to win the conference tournament, they have an automatic bid to the Women’s NIT.

Yet another black eye on the face of sports. Just days after Alexander Vinokourov won my respect with a gutsy comeback, it was announced that he tested positive for “blood doping.” That is the practice of injecting someone else’s (or your own previously saved) blood packed with oxygen-carrying cells prior to an arduous event in order to perform better and recover faster.

SHAME on Vinokourov!

I am about ready to boycott all professional level sports… this type of cheating is and poor sportsmanship is rampant. Barry Bonds is about to break one of the most hallowed records of all despite, in my opinion, obvious steroid abuse. An NBA official is being investigated for gambling on and fixing games. Jerks like Terrell Owens are celebrated rather than shunned in the NFL. Speaking of the NFL, a former SuperBowl winner stabs someone to death and “settles out of court.” The NBA is full of thugs and rapists. Olympic medalists have been stripped of medals for cheating. Wrestlers regularly die and now kill others under the influence of the drugs. There are new accusations of steroid abuse in GOLF of all things. And even after instituting the most rigid drug testing, cycling continues to fight a losing battle against greed and cheating.

I am not naive enough to think that it only exists at the pro levels, even Texas high school football is beginning to test for steroids. If you thought the 80’s were a decade of greed, that was nothing.

I commend the cycling governing bodies for being hands-down the most rigid in their efforts to stem the disease of cheating, but hang my head a little lower that I was duped by this dope, Vinokourov.

I said it back on ‘04 when Kobe Bryant forced the Los Angeles Lakers into the dumb decision to part ways with Shaquille O’Neal, and I will reiterate here. .. Kobe has destroyed the Lakers. Their first-round exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Phoenix Suns is further proof of the damage done by KB (King Baby.)

Once again, the “whiny wonderkin” tried to shoot his way to a victory without the help of his teammates. Once again, his “royal retardness” scored plenty but lost the game. Way to suck, Kobe.

The real tragedy here is that in the post-loss press conference, there was no contrition… there was no “my bad,” only a call for the Laker’s organization to “Do something, and do it now.” Yeah, Kobe called out the team for the loss… nothing about his role. Nice.

True to my statement the day that the Lakers chose Kobe Bryant over Shaquille O’Neal, I have not seen a minute of a Lakers’ game since, but the boxscore tells the all-too-familiar tale of a young punk with no respect for the game, no respect for history, and no respect for anything that doesn’t contribute to his selfishness. Now, the question is… has the Lakers organization seen enough and will they get rid of this cancer and back to their winning ways? I’m not holding my breath… at least not until I get done saying, “I told you so.”

Jerry Buss, GET KOBE OFF THE LAKERS!! I would like to start watching my team again.

First off, let me say that I am being true to my word and have not seen one minute of the NBA since Kobe Bryant destroyed the franchise by forcing them to part ways with both Shaquille O’Neal and Phil Jackson. That said, I couldn’t help but notice who made it into the championship game.

No matter who wins… I am happy. First off, I know this is going to rub some Houstonians the wrong way, but my favorite Texas basketball team has always been the Mavericks. I am pretty sure it was Davad that got me excited about them way back in college.

And an even bigger present would be for Miami to win. Not because I have ever had the slightest interest in the Heat, but because Shaq is on the team. It would be so poetic if Shaq wins a title before Kobe. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that Pat Riley (head coach of the Lakers during their 5 championships in the 80’s) is Miami’s coach. I love irony.

I just returned from the Houston Comets double-overtime victory over the Indiana Fever… wow, what a game! Sheryl Swoopes knocked down an amazing 31 points in leading her team and Dominique Snow added 21 in their 86-78 victory. The Comets trailed by 18 points early on, but kicked it into high gear at the close of the first half to bring it within 8. They fought all the way back before time expired and sent the game into overtime. At the end of one OT, it was still knotted up. Then the Comets lit up the boards with a 10-0 run to start the second extra stanza…

The Comets are now 3-1 on the season and looking a lot like their championship teams of a few years ago.

If you’re tired of the spoiled brats, brawls, and showboating of professional sports - check out the WNBA’s Houston Comets…

I think it is great that our team of thugs got their @sses handed to them by Puerto Rico. It is a perfect example of what is wrong with American basketball. Ever since MJ hit the scene, nobody learns to shoot anymore. It is all And1 streetball thuggery.

Arroyo can shoot and he showed how you win games. You don’t do it by putting a team of streetballers together. Richard Jefferson is a punk too - he was talking smack to anyone that would listen. Come on, be a man and congratulate them for handing you your @ss… don’t follow them around the court talking noise… that’s punk. Little Puerto Rico that is not even expected to be in contention for a medal showed that team ball beats streetball hands down. I loved it when Iverson talked smack to Arroyo and then Arroyo came back with a nails three-pointer. Him holding out his jersey to show “Puerto Rico” was great!

Don’t get me wrong, I love my country, I just think that some of what we are showcasing to the world as American, is not representative of us at all. No wonder we are called “ugly Americans.” The blantant foul by Thug-Iverson at the end of the game is fuel for that fire. We had already lost the game, there is no need to grab the guy on the inbounds and manhandle him like AI did - grow up and take your lumps.

Well, I covered the Houston Comets tonight - it was pretty cool being on the floor with the players, coaches etc. even though they lost.

Here are the totals for the day:
Total Calories: 1,460
% Fat: 35%
% Carbohydrates: 28%
% Protein: 37%
Weekly Aerobic points: 6.2

I think the restriction in calories has affected my sleep. It is not that I am sleeping poorly or anything like that - I am sleeping much more soundly than I ever have. We are talking waking up in drool haha. My theory is that with less calories, the body shuts things down more. That could explain why Brian sleeps so long and so deeply.

Also, I have started a side gig for the Herald-Coaster newspaper in Richmond/Rosenberg. I will be covering both the Texas Marauders of the Total Impact Football League (semi-pro)and the WNBA Houston Comets. The Comets’ first game is Thursday night which should be awesome. They are playing the San Antonio Silver Stars (formerly the Utah Starz).