Author: whodeanny

NBA All-Star game 1st quarter

First quarter-

Wow that didn’t take long. 1 basket and 1 sick block and it’s back to the dunk contest for DHo. I think Stan VG is kinda happy…

Thank you USOC!!!

The connection between JKidd and LBJ makes for some pretty basketball doesn’t it?

What about these uniforms? I can’t even explain those.

‘That’s how struggled they are right now.’ Thank you Reggie Miller.

Is Kobe really done this soon? That seems silly. Why didn’t they just let someone else get a spot? Is he really that greedy? Ish.

How hard must it be for Dirk to speak about the JKidd trade when he may have to go back to having a Devin Harris relationship? Especially since English is not his first language.

‘so much things’ thank you Doug Collins.

CB1 (Mr. Big Shot) is making an early bid for MVP. Wow, what a start. Too really tough shots then a blown freebie. Okay! Instant assist machine. Damn.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has had the same expression for the last three days. Damn #2!

The West should really look out. Amare hit a very comfortable looking 3. If he expands his range enough for that to be a threat in the playoffs, with Shaq in the paint. I love it.

Nice individual action but still lots of nervous moments.

Pleasant enough 1st quarter.

TP

NBA All-Star game intro

There are a few things I’ll be interested in looking to see tonight. Are the NBA ads going to promote N’O the whole night? Will this look like a UNICEF ad at some point. Is this about keeping the Hornets there? Will there be similar ‘Save Seattle’s team’ efforts?

Trade possibilities

Dunk contest revitalization?

Will the East attempt to indicate that the players there are as good as the West players?

Who uses this game to break out?
Paul, Kobe, LeBron, Bosh are my top candidates

I would not be shocked to see either Nugget make an extra attempt to shine tonight. They’re my super darkhorse pick to win the West. More on that starting tomorrow. Actually, probably Tuesday.

TP

A Beautiful Mess

A Beautiful Mess

She’s a beautiful mess
This love starved womanly child
With frightful contradictions
Bound up in her mind

Busily skipping through wounding days
Too many minutes press hard
Frustrating her efforts at the anxious
Peace she pursues

Then I arrive
Sowing seed of new substance
Into fallow hidden soil
So wondrously relieved
I discover she loves to reap

© Gayle Force Press 2005

Stop Me

Another 07 gem, Stop Me by Mark Ronson featuring Daniel Merriweather. It’s a blend of a Smiths track and the Supremes’ You Keep Me Hangin’ On. The video intrigued me but the song itself is hypnotic and propulsive at the same time. Check it out. (Also here.)

TP

WAAAY OVERtime

The clippers/Grizzlies game tonight reached 3:00 left in the fourth quarter at 10:18. (I didn’t notice at the time but DVRd the game so I was able to check.) Because there was an overtime period the game ended at 10:59. The coaches used their time outs smartly and in the flow of the game. Fouls were generally good, smart fouls and nothing problematic happened. But it was 41 minutes!

Please understand this was a well played, fun, exciting game. The teams played hard, individuals excelled, the tremendous range and diversity of NBA talent was wonderfully displayed. But the denouement lasted 41 minutes. Including one that included a Clipper foul and final mad dash to the bucket after Memphis had a 6 point lead and the ball with 03.2 seconds left.

It should be on the horizon of concerns that an NBA game can not unreasonably take 41 minutes to play the last 8 minutes of action. An alteration to the rules regarding the frequency of timeouts needs to be on the table. Other rules change during the last two minutes of the game. Perhaps timeouts should be less available as well.

TP

Nikki Giovanni


I got to meet Nikki Giovanni this week! Okay, not really. I spoke with her for about 28 seconds immediately after she gave an MLK Day speech. I’m a total fanboy! I gave my best Walter Payton combo of sliding, diving and pushing through the crowd to reach her and was able to say all the critical things in those 28 seconds.

Things like:
Her critical inspiration for me to achieve a surprising level of openness in my poetry
Our use of her poem Resignation at our wedding
One of my student’s research project on Giovanni and the Black Arts Movement
The power and bravery of her continuing stands for justice and against inequality

I was also able to give her a copy of MOSAIC. I can only hope she enjoys it.

FDO