Its NFL 2K5 all over again

Only a couple of hours ago, the Philadelphia Eagles signed a popular yet controversial player. His skills on the field were unquestionable, but it was the baggage that came with him that create the controversy. Only 5 years ago, the T.O. experiment began. However the controversy ended up hurting the Eagles more in the long run than it helped them.

Today, McNabb faces his new teammate Michael Vick. Vick was a fun player to watch. That is, before he went to prison for 2 years because of charges related to dogfighting. Now, the first stop on Vick’s rehabilitation tour stops in Philly, “The City of Brotherly Love” (unless you’re wearing a Cowboys, Giants or Redskins jersey).

NFL History will view this as either a gamble that paid off, or another failed experiment. Either way this move should make the team better, and give them more room to experiment with the wildcat offense, with DeSean Jackson and Maclin already there and ready. I can forsee many great things coming out of Philly. Which bother’s me of course because I’m a Cowboys fan.

Elevated Testosterone Level

I haven’t written in a while. But for good reason. I have no reason to write anything recently. That and I’ve been busy with actually fulfilling my 5 year plan. 5 years from now I want to be a lawyer. Now that is important to me, more so than sports. But I felt inspired when I read this article on ESPN. I pretty much details players for whom it would kill fans if they were using steroids. This is a major issue for me.

My List of CLEAN players is Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones and Albert Pujols. That’s it. At this point I hope and pray that I never find out that any of these players were using. Derek Jeter and Chipper Jones were my childhood heroes as far as baseball went. When I first started learning about singles doubles and grand slams, those were the players I looked for on the field. Albert Pujols is the guy that I feel has the same type of team first attitude. I’d probably have to be placed in a padded room if I found out that Jeter was on steroids.

Admittedly, just hoping players are clean doesn’t make them so. I’d have put A-Rod on the list of clean players and Manny Ramirez. Manny and A-Rod both missed a substantial amount of games after being shown to be steroid users. The Ortiz news didn’t kill me because I figured he was a user.

Randy Johnson is also no longer on my non-steroids list. He isn’t a user as I am aware, but as fast as his fastball was I’m not willing to completely give him the benefit of the doubt. I believe everyone was immersed in the culture. (But Jeter and Jones) I can’t allow anyone else to be exempt. 

5 year plan

I’m actually in the process of doing the Ronald H. Brown program which helps with getting into Law School. Back to what makes this entire blog/outpouring of ideas relevant again. I've been taking law school level courses for the last 2 weeks. Hopefully, this program gets me to go where I need to be.

Write the check

OK, Game 3 tonight. I’m predicting that playing in Orlando will reawaken the Magic. But, eh…. not important

 

My Gaming future

 

Crackdown 2 excites me. The trailer didn’t say much, but lets be honest. If the trailer just said crackdown 2 in a 4 year olds handwriting I’d be excited. 

-Next is Halo 3 ODST. Write the check immediately, I’m buying it. On top at that it comes with all of the H3 Multiplayer maps.

There’s a new Pokémon game coming out later this fall as well.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is coming out

Marvel v. Capcom 2 is coming for the X360.

Facebook/Twitter app… ‘nuff said really

Lakers V. Magic Game 1

 

Game 1 was a blowout that got out of the Magic's hands early. They never could stop Kobe, or even slow him down after the the middle of the 2nd Quarter. I had this thing going Magic in 7, but now I'm want to switch this to Lakers in 6. This will be a test of Stan Van Gundy's coaching ability.

And I'm sorry for jinxing the Cavs and Nuggets.

Back 4 the conference finals

Well, the conference finals are here and in full swing with both series at a 1-1 split. I'm a bit late for predictions (Denver in 7 and Cleveland in 6) But I will talk about the two series.

Denver v. L.A.

Melo vs. Kobe has been the biggest story line of this one. The two teams split the games in the Staples Center and will be headed to Denver for the next two. I think they'll split the next two as well. One thing that's nice about the Nuggets is how they've managed to make Carmelo Anthony play the way he was supposed to play when he was drafted. Billups is the reason for that. Now, there's someone on the team who can draw defenders with his shot and dish to the best shooter left in the playoffs, Melo.

The Lakers on the other hand look vulnerable. Every great team has vulnerabilities. The great Bulls teams couldn't defend centers, for example. The L.A. inability to defend against guards was exposed in the Rockets series. But the Lakers still have Kobe. Kobe will not roll over. The Lakers as a whole are not as tough as the Nuggets, but they have the best player in the series. Shame that it wont lead them back to the promised land.

Cleveland v. Orlando

Cue in Drew Carey... "Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Rocks"

Is there any player in the league more fun to watch than King James? The comparisons to Jordan need to stop. He is not Jordan in any way. If he can be compared to any legend, he's "Magic" Johnson. He's versatile enough to play about any position. He collects rebounds, assists and points. He's perfectly capable of putting up a triple double on any occasion. He's the reason Cleveland is here in the first place. And he knows how to put on a show. The roleplayers all know their jobs and know who the star is.

Orlando came into this series with the most momentum. Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu make up the best 3 person combination left in the playoffs. But none of them can stop the KING.

Bulls-Celtics and the rest of the Playoffs

Cleveland v. Detroit (4-0)
...

Orlando v. Philly (4-2)
Orlando went and won 3 straight.

Atlanta v. Miami (3-3)
Going into Game 7 and thoroughly unimpressive

Lakers v. Utah (4-1)
Lakers won. Mostly yawnworthy

Denver v. New Orleans (2-0)
Somehow Denver lost a game. And followed up by beating the Hornets by 58 points. That was the worst blowout in NBA History. Keep in mind that the Kings (who were the worst team this year) never lost by that many.

San Antonio v. Dallas (1-2)
Mavs won. Spurs are done

Portland v. Houston (4-2)
This series wasn't as good as I wanted it to be in hindsight. The Blazers just aren't quite there yet. This is mostly Oden's fault. The fact that Yao didn't drop 35 a night is inexcusable. Ron Artest took a few too many 3 pointers.

Boston v. Chicago (3-3)

Watching this series for me was like watching "The Dark Knight" the first time. Watching the Bulls win in that Game 6 triple overtime thriller was absolutely amazing. This is a game that featured:
Rajon Rondo as a a villain.
Joakim Noah getting a steal and dunking on Paul Pierce (did he think he was a PG or something).
Ray Allen scoring like his life depended on it (51 points).
Derrick Rose with a great block, and pitiful clutch shooting.

But 2 days later, now that I've gotten over it. The Game was better than average. But it wasn't the best ever. In TDK, Heath Ledger was great, and there were some great lines, but it also had some parts which were boring, keeping it from being the best movie ever. In Bulls-Celtics Game Six, there were some great moments, but the game kinda ended with a thud. Derrick Rose couldn't hit the free throws, Salmons pitiful defense that nearly caused the Bulls to lose the 2nd OT. And it just didn't have the moment at the end.

Great moments in my lifetime
Larry Johnson's 4 point play
Allen Houston's lay-up at the end of Game 5 Knicks-Heat
Robert Horry's 3 pointer at the end of Lakers-Kings
Derek Fisher's 0.4 second shot

This series has had some pretty good moments, but nothing classic. On the other hand, this is definitely the best first round series, and certainly the most intense series I've seen. No other series has had 4 games go into OT. It went into double overtime, then triple overtime.

Another problem is this, the series really doesn't matter. Its a first round series, at the end of it all, Neither of these teams will beat the Cavs, and the winner may be too drained to beat the well-rested Magic in the second round. Also this series is severely lacking in KG. If he weren't injured this series would probably be over, and I certainly wouldn't be talking about it.

However this is great basketball, and as long as Game 7 isn't a dud, this will certainly go down as one of the great series if not the best.