Hello,
These are things that I'm definitely not writing about today.
Sports:
- I thought the way AL Manager Jim Leyland handled what could have been a prickly situation in the All-Star Game with Mariano Rivera was perfect. I loved how the Mets played Rivera's song, "Enter Sandman" as he approached the mound. The timing of his entrance to the music was perfect, in every way this was a very nice moment, even for Yankees haters like myself. Rivera very deservedly should be honored as one of the best pitchers of all-time. I also loved how the players paid tribute to Rivera as well. I spent a few minutes trying to find the video that best captured Mariano's moment. This is the best video, although the sound quality is less than I would like. Here's the moment:
I wonder how much sales jumped for "Enter Sandman" after Rivera's dramatic entrance. It's a great song, there's no doubt about that.
Another nice moment at the All-Star Game was Neil Diamond's performance of "Sweet Caroline":
- I love baseball, it's drama, excitement and how the tension builds slowly during the season. We are headed into my favorite time of the MLB season, getting into the fun of the pennant race. In spite of my loving MLB I had no interest in Monday night's Home Run Derby. I wasn't invested very much in the actual All-Star game either. I'm glad that I was able to see the whole Mariano Rivera farewell/tribute. That was extremely classy.
- I really missed following games on ESPN.com and watching the funny night crew on MLBN, Harold Reynolds and the other characters on that show.
- Are the Knicks trying to be the most hated team in the NBA? First they resigned J.R. Smith, which makes me laugh more than anything else. Why would they resign that bum? Although he does fit right into the Knicks dysfunction, especially when it was announced that he'll be out for 3 to 4 months due to surgery. The Knicks are clearly the Cowboys of the NBA. I wouldn't let Jim Dolan or Jerry Jones run a Kool Aid stand.
- Maybe New York just wants to be the NBA's most mediocre team? Let's take a look at the 2013 Knicks roster. They already have the overrated, selfish and poor shooting Carmelo Anthony. Add him to the oft injured and overpaid Amare Stoudemire, two players that don't compliment each other. The Knicks resigned Smith after trading for Andrea Bargnani, a player the Raptors might have just released. It seems they decided those players wouldn't take them over the top to be the most hated or mediocre team, so they had to go out and sign Ron Arrest? Which is doubly hilarious because it comes just a couple of days after Arrest said the NBA wasn't in his plans. Did he think that "threat" was going to raise a clamor among NBA fans? Did he think there would be petitions circulated to beg Arrest to stay in the NBA? That's such a delusional Knicks/Cowboys thing to do. Both of those teams devoted and long suffering fan bases will remain miserable. Of course those are the same fans that pay to support mediocrity, so they get what they deserve. Sadly I count myself a Cowboys fan, although they haven't made a logical move since um..... thinking.
It's a good thing the Knicks aren't in the Western Conference as they would only be battling for the 7th or 8th seed. Even in the much weaker Eastern Conference you can't honestly consider the Knicks better than the 5th best team. Enjoy another year of crap Knicks fans.
While the Lakers will never be considered the most lovable team ever, they certainly have become more lovable lately. Don't feel bad for the Lakers losing out on the Dwightmare sweepstakes, feel bad for the Rockets for "winning" that. Losing Dwight decreases Lakers drama by quite a bit, plus his poor shooting won't be clogging up the Lakers salary cap for the next 5 years. Then LA amnestied Ron Arrest, which should certainly increase their likability. Again I'm a 100% Lakers hater, but they'll be much more fun to watch without Howard and Arrest. Gaining by subtraction also decreases the number of bad shots by Lakers players.
Will the Lakers be any good this season, um no. But they'll only have to deal with Mike D'antoni one more season. He'll either be fired during the season or when the season is completed. Then I expect the Lakers will hire a much better coach this time and they'll have about $50 million underneath the salary cap. I know people are excited in Houston right now and are getting ready for their victory parade. But even at this point I'd much rather be a Lakers fan.
But I'm very glad that I'm a Jazz fan, I really like the direction they are going. In fact once the NBA season starts I think I'm going to write a blog after every Jazz game like I do now with my Dodgers Dailies. It will be a good way to keep track of the Jazz, but it will only be about half as many blogs as writing for a baseball season. Writing about 160 blogs about the Dodgers continues to be a lot of work.
Books:
- A quick recommendation about a book I recently read and quite liked. On Sunday, after picking it up only three days previous, I finished the very good "Six Years" by Harlan Coben. From the very start the book grabs you by the collar. I had a very hard time putting it down. Although as I was reading it I kept on hoping that the ending wouldn't be so bad that it would detract from the rest of the book. In other words I didn't want the experience I get after reading a Dan Brown book. I wanted to punch someone after reading the incredibly stupid "The Lost Symbol".
"Six Years" ending ended up being okay. It could have been better, but it also could have so much worse. Overall I'd give "Six Years" a B. As for "The Lost Symbol", I'm still irritated I read that stupid book. I wouldn't even give that book a F, it deserves a solid Z.
- When I finish reading a great book it puts me on a bit of a high and I look forward to starting another book. With that in mind, the fact I was missing baseball and feeling a bit nostalgic I started reading "Ladies And Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, And The Battle For The Soul Of A City" by Jonathan Mahler.
It's a good enough book about New York City being at a crossroads. The summer of 1977 was a crazy time in New York. Reggie Jackson had just joined the Yankees and that wasn't exactly smooth sailing. There were also strikes, a heatwave, it was the summer of the serial killer Son of Sam and a wild mayoral election. Definitely enough things to make for an interesting book.
I previously started reading this book twice, but I'm determined to finish it this time.
themusicaddict
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