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The San Antonio Spurs looked old and slow as they were humbled by the Memphis Grizzlies. Their 18 point loss pushes them to the brink of elimination, as only 8 teams have ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in NBA playoff history. The Tim Duncan led Spurs that routinely won championships? Those days are all but over. Coach Popovich has gotten just about all he possibly could out of his team. But ultimately it looks like it isn't going to even be enough to get them out of the first round.
I've thoroughly enjoyed watching the Spurs this decade because they have been a model of consistency and how to play basketball the right way. Popovich always stresses the fundamentals and you can always count on his players to be among the classiest in the league (with the possible exception of Tony Parker). Tim Duncan is a clear Hall of Famer, but his body is beginning to betray him and his numbers certainly reflect that. The team that I watched tonight is a shell of what it used to be and I can only hope that they can pick themselves back up for Game 5 because it makes me sad to see them playing like this.
That being said, I am also extremely happy for teams like New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Memphis, and Atlanta that have made a statement in the Playoffs thus far. Though I would love to see the Celtics win the championship again I would certainly have no problems with any of these teams winning. The time for the younger teams to take up the mantle from the veteran squads we have all become accustomed to seeing in the playoffs is long overdue. I would personally like to see a Celtics-Thunder match-up in the finals because this would showcase the best of veteran leadership and heart against the best young talent.
I wish all of you that have a favorite team that still has a chance good luck and i can only hope that we will continue to be treated to high quality and entertaining basketball throughout the rest of the playoffs.
I usually don't like to talk about my personal life, but this past week was so perfect that I felt compelled to make an exception. I knew that my girlfriend really loved plays and that she had mentioned before that she had always wanted to see Les Miserables. So when I found out that opening night happened to fall on the 2 year anniversary of us starting to date, I decided to surprise her with tickets to the show. This gave her an excuse to get dressed up and I have never seen her as happy as she was in the hours leading up to and throughout the play. The play was excellent and I highly recommend it to anyone that hasn't seen it. The sound of the orchestra, the actors and actresses' voices, and the sets that were inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo came together to make this one enchanting and unforgettable night for both of us.
The next night we went to a baseball game because I had realized earlier in the month that my favorite team was going to be playing here. So we decided to get tickets and I was amazed at how close our seats were to the field. Despite the cold, wind, rain, and the fact that my team lost we still had a really good time. Even though my girlfriend is far from being a baseball fan she still goes with me to games because she knows that it's something special to me and she just likes being with me.
When I found out that Jon Lester was pitching the next night I had to go to the next game as well. He is one of the best pitchers in the league and his battle with cancer earlier in his career is pretty inspirational. It was an afternoon game so as soon as my girlfriend's class was over we walked down to the stadium. Being a few minutes late really worked out well for us. We were planning on just getting bleacher seats for $10 a piece from the ticket office. But before we got there a guy offered us 2 tickets for a total of $10. No matter where the tickets were it was a good deal so we bought the tickets without even looking to see where the seats were. As we were headed into the stadium we were informed that our tickets were loaded, which means that you can save $4 at any of the concession stands. The amazing part came when we finally found out where our seats were. They were directly behind home plate and are valued at about $85 a piece. We couldn't believe our luck, and I wasn't disappointed by Lester's performance as he went 7 innings without giving up a run. Despite another Boston loss we still had another fun day that left us looking forward to the weekend.
On Saturday we decided to go on a picnic. We had already made plans to go to the Botanical Garden and I figured that a picnic would compliment that nicely. We found a beautiful park on the way there and stopped to have our picnic. At one point a goose realized that we were eating and suddenly flew out of the water directly at us, causing my girlfriend to jump in the air in shock. After looking at the sculptures and fountains that surrounded the art museum next to the park we headed over to the Garden.
The second part of the garden we visited was based on the Costa Rican rain forest, which had a special meaning to me because I spent a couple of weeks in Costa Rica for a Spanish class in my freshman year of college. After looking at all of the beautiful flowers, butterflies, and birds we came to a waterfall. I knew that this was the perfect spot to do something that I had been planning for a while. After visiting other parts of the Garden I made an excuse to go back underneath of the waterfall once I noticed that it was less crowded. After waiting for another woman to leave I softly told my girlfriend that I had a surprise for her. At which point I pulled a ring out of my pocket, got on one knee, and asked the love of my life to marry me.
As we headed back to the school, the sun came out and the weather felt as if it was a true spring day. We just walked slowly all the way back to school, enjoying the weather and each other's company as we talked about our future together. It was the perfect end to a perfect week, which will hopefully turn into a perfect life together.
Now that both NCAA Championship games are set I can say that it is truly refreshing to see a new level of parity in both men's and women's basketball. Teams like the Uconn and Tennessee women's team and the Duke, Kansas, Ohio State, and Florida on the men's side have been on top for far too long and I love to see other teams get their chance to shine. I loved seeing an overconfident Uconn team get taken down by Notre Dame tonight. I'm not anywhere close to being a women's basketball fan, but all you have to do is turn on ESPN during basketball season to know everything about Uconn. It's almost as if there aren't any other teams. I truly hope that last night's results will start a new era in women's basketball where every team has a chance to win the championship, not just a select few.
On the men's side we have the first final four in history that doesn't include a 1 or 2 seed. Some people have used this as a means for making the argument that basketball should have something similar to the BCS system, where teams that are considered to be the best by computers and coaches get to automatically go to the championship game. I reject this idea because a team like Butler making it to the championship game is what makes March Madness so special. It would be like TCU or Boise State actually getting a chance to prove that they can compete against the likes of Auburn and Alabama. College Football could be so much more meaningful if they had a playoff system that was formatted similar to March Madness. Because then the small schools would get just as much of a chance to prove that they belong as the big schools. It was great that TCU was able to win the Rose Bowl, but it would be like telling Butler that they were allowed to play in the Final Four but not the championship game if they happened to win.
With Butler making it's second straight appearance in the championship game they can no longer be considered David or Cinderella. They actually resemble TCU or Boise State in that they have turned a small school into a perennial contender and a team that no one really wants to face. The only difference is that Butler actually gets an opportunity to play in a championship game and possibly win while TCU and Boise will always be pushed aside for bigger schools. I sincerely hope that Butler is able to win the championship tonight and prove once and for all that they are not an aberration and that any team can win on any given day if they are just given the chance.
There are so many things going on in the world at the moment that it is nearly impossible for me to choose just one topic to write about. And so because this is my blog I am at liberty to be as indecisive as I want to be and write about every topic that has been on my mind lately in one post.
The earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan is truly a tragedy. But the Japanese are strong and they will make it through this just like they always have when disaster has struck their nation. Japan is in much better shape than Haiti was because they are able to support themselves and they possess a strong and organized government that can effectively deal with a disaster on this scale
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Conference tournaments provide a chance for teams that have underperformed during the season, for one reason or another, to make one last push to reach the Big Dance. Rutgers was robbed of this opportunity when a series of calls went against them in the last 15 seconds of their game against St. John's.
Rutgers found themselves only trailing by 1 point after being down by as much as 10 in the second half. After a St. John's turnover, Rutgers had a chance to take the lead. It was at this point that the officials decided to not officiate the rest of the game. Mike Coburn was hit on the arm as he drove to the basket causing his shot to be off the mark. This led to a questionable non-call and a St. John's rebound and subsequent trip to the free throw line. This non-call can at least be partially forgiven because that type of foul is routinely not called at the end of games
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Last semester I decided that I wanted to do something really special for my girlfriend on her birthday to show her exactly how I felt. The plan that I decided on involved giving roses to 12 different friends and having them meet her one at a time to deliver a rose to her throughout the entire day. Once she had all 12 roses I met her outside of her last class with another dozen roses.
Like many other people there are times where it is difficult for me to express exactly how I feel about the girl I love through words. Love falls under the category of an abstract word because it is a thought and an idea rather than something physical that we can look at or hold in our hands. This means that we need some kind of symbol that represents the word. So when we try to explain to someone how much we love them we are left with either using metaphors or descriptive words that never quite seem to convey what we really mean
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The topic of politics has been on my mind a lot lately. I recently saw an article on CNN about the likely Republican candidates for president in 2012. I found their list pretty disheartening because I was unable to find anyone that I would feel confident with running the country. Many of the comments below the article began with the statement "What a bunch of losers." And sadly I couldn't disagree with that. With the state of our nation it would be difficult for anyone to disagree with the fact that we are not heading in the right direction. We need someone that can give our nation direction again and lead us out of the darkness of this recession we've been in. But the trouble is finding someone that is willing and capable of doing it.
We used to have presidents that were men of integrity. Men like FDR and Abraham Lincoln that were willing to stand up for what was right and give everything for the love of their country. I realize that we live in a different era and politicians have been forced to play by different rules. But that still doesn't give them the right to become so absorbed with catering to the upper class that they forget to serve the middle and working class people. I am unhappy with our current president but I also don't see any hope of finding someone better on the horizon. I think it's really sad that I can't think of a single American that has true integrity and would be an ideal candidate for president. I want to believe that there is someone out there that can prove me wrong. Presidents used to be heroes that we could count on to make the right decisions and protect our nation. But somewhere along the way we were left with presidents that couldn't speak, couldn't deliver on their promises, and couldn't keep it in their pants
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In today's world, communication has reached an unprecedented level. We can use Facebook, Skype, or even email to instantly communicate with people around the world. We are able to communicate with people that we never would have been able to because of distance. And we are able to keep in touch with a large number of people that we otherwise just wouldn't have time to talk to in person. But just because the quantity of communication has increased does not mean that the quality has increased as well. In fact, I would argue that the quality of communication has taken quite a few steps backward. We have become so consumed with communicating with the person halfway around the world that we often forget to talk to the person that is sitting right in front of us.
If you happen to be in what you classify as a serious relationship that you want to last, it would be a good idea to know your partner's love language if you don't already. Though not always accurate, this can give you some idea as to what your partner is looking for in your relationship. The love language that correlates the most with communication is quality time. It is easy to think that just spending time with your partner while you text, watch a tv show, or checkout Facebook counts as spending quality time with them. After all you are physically in the same room. But spending time and spending quality time are two completely different things. Quality time means that you are spending the time that you have together to talk and perhaps even listen to your partner
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Effective communication is the key to any successful relationship. But for most of us this can be a major problem because we are never taught how to clearly communicate our emotions, feelings, and ideas to others and we certainly never learn how to be good listeners. We are taught math, science, and even history but somehow communication always gets left out. So how can we learn to become effective communicators when it is something that is noticeably absent from our education? The same way that we learn any new subject or concept; the willingness to put in the time and effort to learn. Putting time and effort into something is usually not enjoyable but in this case it will definitely be worth it because most of us would prefer to not be constantly fighting with our significant other because of misunderstandings and miscommunication.
Over the next couple of weeks I will be examining and writing about how we can become effective communicators and thus be involved in more enriching and healthy relationships.
I am a naturally selfish person. I view selfishness as a disease that infects my body and turns me into something ugly when I allow it to take over and control the things that I say and do. I have found that the cure for this disease is love. It is no longer acceptable to only think about myself because when I entered into a relationship I made a commitment and a promise that I would put that person first. I want to give her the best I have to offer each and every day and selfishness makes that impossible. I have found that selfishness gives you nothing but disappointment and emptiness while love can fill you up with joy and leave you floating in the clouds. There are still many days where I can see my selfishness beginning to seep through. And when this happens I think about the havoc that it can wreak in my relationship and that anything else that I could possibly want can't compare to how much I want to stay with the one that I love. Too often I am unable to stop myself before I say or do something damaging. I am a work in progress and I am confident that the love that I find myself immersed in will continue to help me fight off my selfishness and eventually beat it.
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