Hello,
Last night I was able to watch the end of two great NBA playoff games and the destruction of the hated Lakers. It was a good night for the NBA and me.
The 76ers held off the Bulls and now advance to the second round of the playoffs. I've got over much of my bitterness about the lameness of Carlos Boozer. But I did have to chuckle to myself that he was on the bench at the end of a game that meant so much to the Bulls. In fact Boozer sat out the final 16:07 of the game and only made 1 of 11 shots. That's after not playing in the final quarter of the Bulls final 2011 playoff game. People are wondering if the Bulls should amnesty him? I say "no", just don't play him. He'll be so miserable he'll beg for his release. That's one thing we've learned about Boozer over the teams, he's solidly in the camp of Team Boozer. Boozer then could leave the team under terms more favorable to the Bulls. The Bulls signing Boozer will go down as one of the worst all-time NBA free agency signings. Of course, that won't surprise any Jazz fans. NBA teams here's a little tip for you: if a team's fan base is happy when they lose a player you probably shouldn't sign that player. I wanted him to leave a year or two before he finally did.
I completely agree with Hawks co-owner, Michael Gearon Jr., about the Celtics being dirty. The Hawks got very few calls. Boston has a reputation of tough defense- more like a lot of holding and grabbing. As in Game 5 of the series, Boston got the majority of calls for last night's game as well. For instance: the refs saying that the Hawks player was throwing in the ball when his teammate was mugged by the Celtic. On the next play Al Horford was mugged, as ESPN says "But Horford missed the first of two foul shots with 2.3 seconds left after he was tackled by Marquis Daniels to avoid an easy dunk that would have tied the game."
On that play it didn't even look like Marquis Daniels was going for the ball. Shouldn't that have been a flagrant foul? For the part of the game I watched the refs also called two technicals. Both on the Hawks, thankfully Ray Allen only made 1 of 2 of those free throws. When a ref calls a technical foul, to me that shows that the ref has lost control of the game. And giving that one extra point to the Celtics made a big difference in this game. Without that extra point, when Garnett made the shot with 30 seconds left, that would have only tied the game. Maybe with a bit more pressure Garnett misses that shot? That one point changed the entire complexion of the game after that technical foul was called.
And for the final 1.3 seconds of the game, I know it would have been a long shot. But why was Rajon Rondo allowed to bump Jeff Teague so that Teague couldn't even get that final shot off?
Now the Celtics will play the 76ers in the second round of the playoffs. I'll be cheering for the 76ers slightly, but overall I don't really care. After the Heat destroy the Pacers I don't see either the 76ers or the Celtics presenting much of a challenge to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. I don't see Boston getting more calls than the Heat.
And as for Boston teams, it's good to see at least one of them is a winner. Too bad it's the wrong Boston team. The Red Sox continue their lost season of Bobby Valentine. Is there really any chance the Red Sox would bring him back for a second season? I know they have other problems than him, but has he done enough to deal with those problems? Is he even the right person to deal with those problems? He has seemed to add to Boston's problems and not lessening them.
Injuries have played a major part of Boston's problem, especially the injuries to Kevin Youkilis, Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury. The injuries to John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka I consider more of a blessing than loss. But what the hell is going on with Josh Beckett, he seems to be undergoing some kind of Bynumization.
But still the Red Sox have lost 11 of their last 12 games at home. Can you imagine the Red Sox losing 11 of 12 games at home, even in their worst seasons would you have even imagined that to be possible? The Red Sox have also lost 8 of their 9 games in May so far. What will, or what can, Valentine do to salvage this season. Honestly I don't think much of what he will do will help. This Red Sox season has a feeling of being a lost season.
Hopefully getting everyone healthy and being able to dump Daisuke's contract before next season will help tremendously. They also need to get a guy in that clubhouse that is liked by everyone and that can rally the troops. If anything the Red Sox have too much money. Instead of signing the best player for their team, they sign the best player they can. That causes chemistry issues and has lead to this season of bad karma.
The NBA equivalent of course is the Knicks having Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony on the same team. Whoever thought that would be a good idea? And why were the Heat apologizing to Amare Stoudemire for their PA announcer saying Stoudemire was "extinguished" when he fouled out of Game 5? Political correctness has got out of control in America.
Back to the NBA briefly: How much fun was it to watch the Nuggets dismantle the Lakers in last night's game. I enjoyed the Nuggets jumping to a 13 point lead and then most of the rest of the game. I stopped watching when the Nuggets went up by 28 points.
I honestly thought Kobe Bryant was making up his illness so he'd have his own Jordanesque moment. I'm glad the Nuggets ruined it for him. I didn't want to hear about the "bravery" of Bryant for the next several years. I had to hear enough about Jordan's "greatness" last night. However Bryant truly did look sick. As Dan Patrick pointed out today he didn't look as sick as the rest of his team. If Bryant hadn't played, the Nuggets could have won by 40. Watching last night's game reminded me again of how much of a one man team the Lakers are. Were either Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum awake during the game? Or did they just not care? Or are they just not as good as advertised. The NBA does have a way of hyping up it's players. I can see why Gasol has dropped to the third option on the Lakers. If he's even a Laker next season, I expect him to be even lower.
It will be interesting what effect Ron Arrest will have on Saturday's Game 7. That's one thing you can be certain of is he'll have some kind of effect. It will be either good or bad for the Lakers. Honestly what I would love to see is for Arrest and Bynum to fight each other during the game. I don't think that's completely out of the realm of possibility. One is crazy and the other one is immature.
With the Nuggets forcing a Game 7 and Arrest eligible for Game 7, I increase the Nuggets chance of winning this series from .002% to 1%. The Lakers will get the majority of calls, especially at home. Also the NBA would much rather have a Thunder-Lakers second round series than Nuggets-Thunder. The NBA won't officially sanction the Arrest-Harden rematch. But ESPN would hype up the last game that the Thunder and Lakers played when Ron Arrest elbowed James Harden in the head. Although I'd love to see the Nuggets knock out the Lakers, just like the Nuggets team knocked out #1 seeded Supersonics several years ago. I still remember Dikembe Mutombo laying on the floor clutching the basketball in his hands.
As for Game 6 of Clippers-Grizzlies tonight? Honestly I care very little and I don't even know if I'll watch much of it. I'm sick of all the hype that surrounds Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. I don't think either the Clippers or Grizzlies will provide much of a challenge to The Terminator. Otherwise known as the Spurs.
Just a couple of quick pop culture thoughts before getting on to more 70's classics.
It was inevitable I guess, but "Mad Men" has had a rough season. Does "Mad Men" have to incorporate every 1966 cultural milestone into this season's story lines? 1966 is the year before I was born, so no I don't remember the cultural impact of the Beatles. But in my opinion they are one of the most over rated bands ever. It's incredibly cliche to have the Beatles represent the music of the 60s. According to rollingstone.com the Beatles were paid $250,000 for Don Draper to play "Tomorrow Never Knows" on that episode.
The Rolling Stones were a much better and more interesting band. And at the end of the 60's both Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix are coming along.
Although it was good to see the gorgeous Alexis Biedel again, but why did she end up with the pathetic loser known as Pete Campbell? I hope this show gets better throughout the rest of this season. "Walking Dead" bounced back the second half of it's last season. It's been a disappointing Season 5, although it has had it's moments.
Last weekend I watched the movies "Avengers", "Safe" and "Clear and Present Danger". Although I had previously seen "Clear and Present Danger", that was my favorite of the three movies. While I enjoyed "Avengers" it was way too long. They should have pushed "Avengers" back to 2013 and used another movie to better establish the back stories of Black Widow and the lame character Jeremy Renner played. Robert Downey Jr. was hilarious as Iron Man again, he always gets the best lines.
"Safe" was about as I expected, I was one of two people watching that movie. I really enjoyed "Clear and Present Danger". For some reason Hollywood has done a good job converting Tom Clancy books into good movies. "The Hunt For Red October" is actually a better movie than book.
Also to no one's surprise the boring "Alcatraz" has been cancelled. Now can the same thing be done to the atrocious "The Killing"?
Okay now here are several more 70's classics. Enjoy!
I've got a good job, so I'm glad that I can't complain. However I've had a few jobs where the idea of this song has crossed my mind. I love this video for how shaggy and unkempt Paycheck looks. In this era of pretty country boys, Paycheck would be completely out of place. Johnny Paycheck's "Take This Job And Shove It":
This song grabs you from the opening note. Steely Dan's "Hey Nineteen":
John Stewart's "Gold":
Maria Muldaur's "Midnight At The Oasis":
Here's a couple from Fleetwood Mac, "Landslide" is such a beautiful song. And Stevie, we all are getting older too. Yeah and it's no fun.
"The Chain":
Billy Joel's "Piano Man":
From the above video when the song wasn't even a hit yet to this video when it had become a classic:
The Knack's "My Sharona":
Isn't this an amazing song? Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song":
Carly Simon's "You're So Vain":
Looking Glass' "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)"
The Miracles "Love Machine":
Brook Benton's "Rainy Night In Georgia":
The Climax Blues Band "Couldn't Get It Right":
Despite what it says at the start of this video, this is a 70's song, 1978. Sniff 'n The Tears: "Driver's Seat":
themusicaddict
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