More NBA Musings.................

Kevin Garnett plays 100% on every play no matter what the score or situation. He is the hardest working player I have seen since Larry Bird. He is required to score all their points, get all their rebounds and get most of their assists. He is totally spent right now and he couldn't get a foul call without an act of congress. He gets hammered all the time and he rarely complains and he never brings up any excuses after the game about anything. How can you not love this guy.

I have watched a great number of games that involve Latrell Sprewell and I can never remember him getting a technical foul or continuing arguments with players or officials during a game. Yes he did strangle PJ Carlisemo but he is an ass, however his reputation as a thug or a bad person seems to be blown way out of proportion.

Speaking of Techs how cool were the refs tonite just handing out Techinical fouls to people all the time. I love Jack Neis, he must have given 40 techs last night. To me they cannot call enough techs on these idiots for running their yaps.

Again I have wathced a lot of Laker games over the past 3 seasons and I honestly have never seen Slava Medvadenko hit a shot from anywhere on the court. This guy should be thrown out of the league for being so terrible.

And while we are on the subject of terrible can someone please send Bryon Russell, Horace Grant, Rick Fox and Brian Shaw to please go and get jobs or something. If I see Horace Grant give Derrick Fisher one more brother hug I am gonna kill somebody, and since I have no friends that somebody will probably be myself.

Over the past two nights I have watched teams who were losing and having trouble guarding the other team attempt to go to zone, and you know what happened? The other team scored even more easily. There is a reason why you don't see NBA teams play zone, it doesn't work. How about you man up, move your fucking feet, and box somebody out!!!

I hope kids who are watching these games see how players are successful. They play hard, go to the offensive & defensive glass, they cut without the basketball toward the basket and they share the basketball, it is not a difficult game at all.

AND

Lastly, I want all you people to read this carefully, Kobe Bean Bryant is a better basketball player than Michael Jeffrey Jordan. I will say it again for those who are hard of reading, Kobe is better than Michael. I don't care that he raped anybody, I really don't, I care that he has more basketball talent than Michaeal Jordan. However, we don't all love him like we were all ordered to love Michael. Had Jordan hit that reverse lay up with Michael Olowakandi draped all over him people would call it the greatest play they have ever seen, but Kobe does it and it is looked at as routine, what does that tell you.
Again Kobe is better than Jordan!!!!!!

Today's NBA Thoughts...............

It is springtime, love is in the air, people are enjoying the beautiful weather, and I am locked in my room living all things NBA. Yes I know this is some life I lead, but hey at least I stay out of trouble. So today we are handing the Lakers the Western Conference Title, we now know the Magic officially have the first pic, and the Pacers/Pistons series is GREAT BASKETBALL!!!!

First thing, I do want to see are some rule changes in the league, nothing to fancy just some simple changes. When a player is shooting a free throw nobody is allowed to touch the ball except the referee, I am so sick of guys jumping in the lane and touching the ball. If you touch the ball you are thrown out of the league. And after a call, any call, you have only five seconds to voice any protest to the ref. We will have a midget with a stop watch keeping rocket up yotime, if you go over the alotted time the midget fires a rocket up your ass. I think that would end these two awful parts of the game.

Now to the Draft Lottery, what the hell is the point of this thing? So we have all these idiots in a room representing their respecetive teams. The best part of this is Chris Bosh sitting there staring at Diana Taurasi and thinking about how hard he is gonna drill her in a bathroom in the NBA headquarters only moments after this thing is over. After all was said and done the Bulls and Clippers traded pics, thats it. Every other team picks in the same order they finished. Thank god we have a made for TV event for this. Lottery, every team gets one ball except for the last place team they get 5 balls, that's it that's the list!! That would be a fucking lottery people. Pat Williams was pumping his fist and then realized he doesn't get Shaq, he gets Emeka Okafor, Dwight Howard, or Luol Deng. Why would anyone want this #1 pick, I would trade it for a naked picture of Mo Vaughn in the shower personally.

The Lake show won their first home game so now they appearently have already won the NBA Championship. I still believe the Wolves have a chance in this series. Remember for Game 4 we have the Kobe court room drama and plus the Wolves are a good team.

And finally we get to the Pacers and Pistons. Normally in a series like this I would want both teams to die in a fiery inferno before the game, but I do have money riding on the Pacers. This series has been tremendous so far, but most people probably haven't watched more than 5 seconds of any of the games. All they do is look at the score and say, "oh these must be terrrible games, look at the score." Had you taken the time to see the effort being put forth by all of the players you would be floored. They go at each other just like old time basketball; the push & shove, get into the faces of their opponents, challenge their teammates to rise to the occasion, and they make big time shots. This series is introducing fans to some budding superstars, Jermaine O'neal and Richard Hamilton especially, but of course old people cannot like them cause the have braids so they are automatically bad people. Both these guys play balls out every second they are out on the floor. They do whatever it takes for their teams to win and it is a pleasure to watch them. I hope that the league begins to market these young players and I hope that fans will take hold of their talents and efforts and grow to respect them, you can call these guys "throwback players" or whatever you want. They give it their best and that is why there teams are still alive in the playoffs and it is a joy to watch these playoffs.

For my dollar the NBA playoffs this season are matching the intensity and joy of last years baseball playoffs. I hope that people are watching and enjoying these games as much as I am.

I hate The Real World, STILL!!!

For some reason I always pain myself and pay some attention to the current season of The Real World. I am not really gonna get to much into the problems with the title itself or the whole "reality TV" craze in this country. I will say that my real world revolves around paying bills, watching some TV, and going to work without the people I live with. Those are some fundamental problems I have with the show.

All that aside a friend of mine named Jeremy told me to pay attention to this years version because his friend was on the show and she had told him about the great time she had, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I have decided to watch and it is no different than any other season, I will break down the whole show for you:

Character 1: Some guy, he is cute guy and the girls love hime, but he has a serious girlfriend back home. He is everybody in the houses friend, which means to me you cannot trust this person. He is the guy who plays peacemaker all the time during the fights. In a fight you have to take a side pal, to quote Mr. Myagi "Walk on left side of road, SAFE, walk on right side of road, SAFE, walk in middle of road get squish like grape." I hate this person.

Character 2: The guy who is a dick and nobody seems to like, although they keep giving him chances. However, this person is usually disliked for the worng reasons, usually he has an opinion on something or a conviction about his beliefs and he always stays true to himself. While you can dislike this persons views, in the end more often than not this person will be the one who is most often successful in life, not just rehashing his reality TV career by being on real world/road rules challenge or inferno or whatever.

Character 3: The whore. This is the girl who you can pick out immediately and label her the slut. She knows she is one, and she knows that everyone in the house knows she is and her total whoreness always gets in the way of everything and ruins everyones time there.

Character 4: The wananbe whore. This is the girl, who is afraid of revealing to much herself, cause people don't know the real her or whatever. She really wants to be the whore, but she isn't. This one usually winds up getting with the asshole guy first and then settling with Mr. Peacemaker.

Character 5: The I am not a whore, whore. This is the really annoying girl. At first the girl who seems cool and you would love to hang out with and maybe even date and then her whoreness, but unwillingness to embrace her slutty ways like character 3, take over the entire show and causes every ounce of drama in the show. She usually wants to nail the Peacemaker when they first get there but then winds of meeting some guy at a bar while during the show, his name could be Chad or Chip or something like that and their relationship plays out the run of the show

Character 6: The other person, you watch the show about 2 years from now on a Real World marathon weekend and go oh yeah that guy/girl was on the show.

Please stop it with this nonesense, at it's core it is a terrific idea for a show but it has gone horribly wrong. It is kind of like Marxism, on paper it is a solid plan but stuck in the wrong peoples hands it leads to ultimate failure and death.

Contribute to Memorial Day

So we are fast approaching one of my truly favorite holidays in America, the ever popular Memorial Day. Like true Americans we spend this holiday buying things, sunscreen, gas, towels, new bathing suites, beer, and food so we can get to the beach or one of the seven BBQ's (yes southerners & black people I mean cookout) we have to go to. And why do we do all this, of course so the terrorists dont't win. Can we still use this line anymore? Or have we beaten the terrorist? Anyway, does anyone know anything about Memorial Day, no you don't so stop pretending you do.

The origins of Memorial Day are somewhat disputed, but the spirit is the same. Basically after the Civl War towns across the country wanted a way to honor the local men who had given their (TAKE THAT JENN-FER) lives in battle. It does not have to do with honoring veterans which is a common misconception, that is Veterans day. servThis is a way to Memorialize those who served valiantly and died for their country. In these towns the citizens would fly all flags at half staff, decorate their houses with evergreen boughs & mourning streamers, and then the townspeople would march to the local cemetary decorate the graves of fallen soldiers and then memorialize them with speeches and services by Clergy and Military leaders.

So my suggestion to all of you is to do something this Memorial Day and here is what I suggest. Take some time out of your incredibly busy consumer weekend find the name of a local soldier who passed away in some war go to a local cemetary and say a memorial prayer for them. Maybe you have someone in your family who you would like to memorialize, feel free to do that. If you need a suggestion on what to say here is the Euology for a Veteran:

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the Gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the mornings hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.

-Author Unknown


Peace & Love

KD

Friends, and why it ain't "GREAT"

So now Friends has ended and I have had time to recover. Thank god Rachel and Ross got back together, I have no idea what I would have done with myself had Rachel stayed on the plane to Paris. Well anyway, I was sitting by the pool today and heard some fat ladies talking about Friends and how great a show it was, and then also my roomates fuck toy (some of you may commonly refer to her as a "girlfriend") was trying to tell us that this was unequivicably the #1 sitcom of all time. I could not have disagreed with her more. When using the word great in TV sitcom land I can only refer to a few shows who were either groundbreaking, entertaining to the masses not a specific dempgraphic, and shows that had brilliant writing. These shows are; Cheers, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, Cosby, MASH, Seinfeld, and All in the Family. Now while I do not enjoy all of these shows they all have their place in sitcom history for many different reasons, reasons which Friends cannot possibly contend with.

Cheers may well have been the most well written comedy show of all time. The characters were flawless and their daily interaction were right on. This show was on when I was in grade schoo-high school and while I had never been to a bar it made me laugh everytime it was on. There was nothing fony about this show, it was real people sitting around a bar and making everyone laugh. This show endured character changes to one of the main characters and a brilliant secondary character and their replacements may have been better, that goes to show you how well written the show was.

Seinfeld, while not a personal favorite, is the most quotable show of all time. No soup for you, Serenity Now, Hello Newman, Shrinkage, Master of my Domain, Bob Saccomano, The Assman, A FESTIVUS FOR THE REST-OF-US, the Manzere all of these references make you laugh in some way. There will never be a more clever show on Television.

MASH was grounbreaking in so many ways. It is the only sitcom based on an historical event. It was the most dramatic sitcom of all time and it was nominated for more awards then any show ever. It used brutal language and showed graphic images to get it's point across, and it to endured character turnover and may have came out with better characters in the end. And if it is writing you want you need only watch 2 episodes the final one and the episode where Hawkeye is trapped in a hut with a Korean family that speaks no english, the show is a 23 minute monologue by Alan Alda, simply brilliant.

Cosby was the most positive portrayal of a black family in TV history. Until that time black families were slapstick comedy like Good Times, The Jeffersons, and Sanford & Son. Bill Cosby broke down barriers by saying black families could be well to do and have a good structured family life. And there willingness to introduce black culture and history on the show through the use of guest stars is still unmatched to this day.

All in the Family and I love Lucy were probably the two most groundbreaking comedies of all time. Lucy challeneged the establishment by having a lead female character and by pushing the boundaries of what could be said on television. Archie Bunker did the same some 20 years later. His total biggotry and racism was unbelievable to see on television yet it represented a segment of society. These two show are timeless classics.

The Honeymooners is without a doubt the best Television show of all time. "To the moon Alice" and "Baby your the greatest" are the two best lines in TV history. This show was basically 3 people, one room and one camera and thats it. No fancy editing and camerawork, just pure comedy genius with the orginal comic duo of Ralph Cramden and Ed Norton. If there is a better straight man/funny man combo out there I have not seen it. This show is the basis for all sitcoms ever, it was the first and still is the best. This show has truly stood the test of time.

Friends, while a worthy show and a funny show has none of these qualities. It had a strong core audience and that core audience is the number 1 draw for advertisers, but it did nothing groundbreaking and does not appeal to a mass audience. For sports fans, Friends is the Frank Thomas of TV. Yeah it'll get in the Hall of Fame cause it has all the nice numbers but when you go to the banquet are you there to get Friends (Frank Thomas) autograph or are you there to get Barry Bonds or Willie Mays autograph? I think we all know the answer to that.

Peace & Love

KD

Children, who invented these people?

What would posses anyone to have children? I have pondered this question for quite some time and I cannot come up with a good reason. First of all most people who do have children shouldn't be allowed to roam free on this planet never mind procreate. I think that there should definately be laws governing who should have children and if these policies are violated, simple solution, death to the kids. Really when you think about it if you kill a baby before his life really gets going he is not missing anything.

I have come to this conclusion after going to the movies this weekend and being overrun by a herd of children. The whole time during the film the kids were talking not paying any attention, always having to go to the bathroom, or need more popcorn. These parents were at the beck and call of their children. Imagine if you had a dog too, then your life is dedicated entirely to walking your dog, feeding your kids, wiping their asses, telling them they can't touch this, or clean your room. I have trouble wiping my own ass and clening my onw room, so I need to get other people and more rooms to have them clean. Who started this trend, most animals in the animal kingdom handle it this way, once the kids are done nursing they basically are on their own. No wiping there ass or cleaning their rooms.

So I say don't have children. The more we have the more can commit crimes and drain the economy and basically contribute nothing to society. Great more kids to watch terrible re-runs of Friends, YIPPEEE!!!!

The Daily Nooner

I have only seen the trailer for the new Tom Hanks movie and it looks terrific, that guy is an amazing actor.

Speaking of actors what is anyones fascination with Vin Diesel or any project he does?? I mean he was even terrible in Saving Private Ryan, please stop casting him, please please please.

This week I watched a championship boxing match, a "big time" horsy race, an NBA Game 7, an NHL Game 7 and a Perfect Game. The best thing for my money is still the hockey game.

Can someone please get Larry Bird a fucking seat, it is so annoying watching team GM's stand there and watch the game. Get a suit or something, GEEZ!!

I know players complain a lot in sports, but Rasheed has brought it to a new level. On every single whistle, if it is a foul on his team or the other, if it is a ball out of bounds or a timeout, and even if he isn't in the game he always has something to say to an official, and I know that not all the time it is negative but it just wears me out and must to the officials too. Next time he says anything to an official he should be thrown out of the league.

Is anyone suprised by this guy who made that fast food movie? You mean if you eat McDonalds everyday for a month you will damage your internal organs and gain weight, wow thanks for that "groundbreaking" documentary.

If it weren't for great music I would not be able to get through any day of my life.

AND

The Texas Rangers are good, not because A-Rod left, but because John Hart is the GM (he only help build the Blue Jays as the Asst. GM and the Indians of the 90's) Grady Fuson (who was the scouting director who built the A's of the late 90's and 00's) and Buck Showalter who fostered the development of 2 World Series winning organizations (The Yankes & Diamondbacks). This was an inevitable development, so please stop saying they are better of without A-Rod.

Peace & Love

KD

Joan of Arcadia

As a straight male it pains me to admit it sometimes but my favorite new show on TV is the CBS Friday night drama Joan of Arcadia. It stars the wonderful Joe Mantegna and the underrated Mary Steenbergen & newcomers Amber Tamblyn and Jason Ritter (son of the late John Ritter). It is a show were Joan, a teenage outcast basically, is confronted by God and told to do things. However, when God manifests himself he does so in various ways; sometimes as a student at her school, or a man walking his dog, or a waiter at a restaraunt. Joan usually follows his advice, but in a good TV Drama way things do not always work out perfectly.

On top of confronting her new found faith in God, Joan is still a high school student, dealing with her first boyfriend and her mother and brother who are both in the school with her. The oldest son (Jason Ritter) was a star athlete who was paralyzed in an auto accident and the father is a police detective dealing with his work problems. All the characters are deep and their storylines very interesting. Also the themes in the show do run from one episode to the next, so it is not just a one and done drama. It moves along with very believable problems that confront today's teens and today's families, all while intertwining the lost faith in God that seems to have swept today's society.

The family in the show is has no confirmed religious conviction, not even christian, but probably not Jewish. In the season finale tonite Joan's mother dreamt that God was talking to her, while Joan sick in a hospital confronted God during medicaly induced hallucinations asking wether or not he was real. Also the Father had his own leaps of faith in this episode. It was nice to see how the other characters dealt with God and how he comes into our lives. It is a very powerful drama which can help teach anyone some thoughts about God and his "plan" for us all.

I do not know where the show came from, but I am certainly happy it is on. I have not really been hooked into regualr viewing of a TV show since That 70's Show premeired in 1999. This show seems to have a staying power and I recommend to anyone regardless of your thoughts on God. By no means does it preach or be pushy with its religious overtones. It is just a quality show with quality writing and I enjoy it very much.

Kobe, Prince, the "Track Scandal" & more.......

Well it seems as if Kobe Bryant may have to make one of his mad dash's from a Colorado court room to the Staples Center on the day of game 4 of the Western Conference finals. There has been a debate on how we should take what he has been able to accomplish on the court during this difficult year for him. Here is how we should take it, Athletically it is an incredible achievment. Ask any high level athlete about their preperation on a gameday and they will tell you that the routine they go through leading up to the game is very important. Our bodies are made up of chemicals and an athlete has to have a balance in his body with those chemicals and he does that by keeping a routine with his training, nutrition, and rest which for Kobe has been all thrown to sorts because of his pre-trial hearings. Now all that being said, yes he has brought all this upon himself, he was in the room that night and has onlt himself to blame for putting himself in that situiation. I am in no way absolving him of this crime or his obligation to be in court for or the pre trial hearings. I hope that he is cleared of these charges (because I want to see him play for another 10 years) but I feel that no matter what happens there is always that backlash that ahtletes got away with crimes because they are rich and famous. Basically OJ has screwed every other athlete who ever goes on trial.

Prince? Does anyone get him? I have totally missed the boat on this guy my whole life. I have never understood what the fascination with this guy is. His music is usually annoying, he is the strangest dude on the planet, and how women find him sexy is beyond me. I was listening to his new song today, and of course Prince fans are all wet over his new song and new album, but I though to myself that sounds an awful lot like Jamiriqui. If this current cong had been sung by Jamiriqui it would never be played on radio. Because these whacko Prince fans love him so much he has basically been able to release anyting over the last 15 years and they will all tell you it is the greatest music ever. Just never got him, don't think I ever will, I'll be in the corner listening to some Bob Dylan if you need me, truly the best musician ever born in Minnesota.

Does anyone care about this ridiculous track scandal? No that is the answer, some chick said she was on the dope and that is why she is fast now she is gonna turn other people in. It is track nobody cares, not in this country. Please spare me all the bull and stop wasting time on my sportscenter and my news with this crap.

Can we get rid of the Sacramento Kings, and Chris Webber and Doug Chrisites wife. They are done, it has been about eight years now they were supposed to have the best team and they always lose. They also have a million excuses, Bobby Jackson didn't play, Webber wasn't 100% yada yada yada. Do you remember the last time Chris Webber won anything?? It was back in 1991 (in high school) before most of you had kissed your first girl (or boy). Rick Adelman did this same thing with the Blazers in the early 90's had all the players and every reason to win, and didn't. Please spare me the Kings trade all the players, fire their coach, and kill the Maloof brothers.

Remember that July 1st deadline to turn over power in Iraq, yeah you can wave that thing bye bye.

What the hell is Memorial Day, and why I am forced to go do something that weekend? Just another excuse for the News to use the word tradgedy when some idiot gets tanked and runs over a dude changing his tire while his family is sitting in the car.

Why did everyone start drinking all this wine all of a sudden, I cannot go to the bathroom without someone talking about a Pinot or Grigio or red or white, this came in with th coffee house craze, why can terrorists target these places and "motor sports" events?

Garnett = GREAT

In the sports industry we use the word great too frequently. It seems to me that we annoint people as stars and great players a little too soon. Many people thought this was true about Kevin Garnett that he was not truly a great player because his team had no really done well in the playoffs. I was not one of these people, I have always thought he was great because he has helped changed the game. He has helped usher in the new breed of player, tall and athletic with the ball skills of a guard and the footwork of a big man. For 9 years he has ruled supreme in the state of Minnesota and now he has taken over the league.

He started his quest to take over the league this offseason when he demanded that the Wolves get him some players so he could compete against the rest of the western conference. The Wolves obliged and he responded not by relying on those players but by having the best season of his career, winning the MVP and assuring his team home court throughout the Western Conference playoffs. Last night he got Game 7 on his court in front of his fans on his 28th birthday. Well KG, The Kid, The Big Ticket, The Franchise, show me what you've got! And show me and everyone else is exactly what he did. I am sure you have read the statline but here it is on more time 34 pts. 21 rbds. 5 blks. and 4 stls.

But you must look beyond and behind some of those numbers to measure his greatness. In the 4th quarter with the Sacremento Kings fighting hard Garnett scored 13 straight points. In those 13 points he caught numerous bad passes from teammates and finished plays at the basket with other players draped all over him. And finally to end that run of points he drilled a 3 with the shot clock winding down to electrify the crowd and his teammates. In the fourth quarter he had 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and a huge steal with :42 seconds remaining which forced the Kings to foul to extend the game.

It is the little things he does, like always picking his teammaters up off the floor, the focus he has at the free throw line, the playing point guard for almost 4 minutes in the fourth quarter when starter Sam Cassell rested a sore back. A sore back, Garnett should be the one resting his sore back for carrying this team. Not once in the second half did you see him look at Coach Flip Saunders and ask for a breather, he didn't need it, great players don't need a breather they need to win the game. Garnett has stamped his place in NBA lore, you will watch this game on ESPN Classic years from now, and they will not call it Game 7 they will call it the Garnett Game. The media the fans everyones said the pressure was on him, he is the MVP he has to lead his team to victory in a game like this. Well Garnett has finally silenced all his critics, they have nothing to say anymore.

He will now take on the Lakers in the Western Finals and by no means will I count him out. This series may come down to which great player wants it more, Kevin Garnett or Kobe Bryant.

Kids, Anna ain't that Hot!!

Okay this is something we have to get right to the point on. Anna Kournikova is hot, for a professional athlete, no more. In fact I don't event think she is the hotteste athlete, I think Jenny Finch, Heather Mitts, and Sue Bird are all hotter. But my overall point is when you stack Anna up against other athletes she stands out as someone who is worth looking at. As far as stacking her up against models, actress's and singers and other famous people who are hired for being hot I believe she does not measure up.

I am just sick and tired of everyone fawning all over Anna everytime she does anything. God forbid you mention her name around people, they start talking about divorcing their wives for the chance to date Anna. I see hotter women all the time on TV whom I would much rather cut off an arm for over Anna. Had she not been a Tennis player she would have certainly not been famous, she might have landed a modeling deal at some point, but she would not be the international superstar that she is today. Just to let you know where I actually stand on this issue here is a list of few women (most of whom made a name simply because they are hot, though a few have some talent)whom I would much rather have carnal knowledge of and for a price: Eva Mendes, Jennifer Garner, Alyssa Mialno, Halle Berry, Jenna Jameson, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Brooke Burke, Molly Sims, Tyra Banks, Demi Moore, Jillian Barberie, Leanne Tweeden, Reese Witherspoon, Rebecca Romijn, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, Elisha Cuthbert, Britney Spears, Jamie Lynn-DisCala, Jaime Pressley, Natalie Portman, Jennifer Biel, Kelly Ripa, Kristanna Loken, Denise Richards, Katie Holmes, Carmen Electra, Salma Hayek, and Jessica Alba just to name few.

So please spare me all the Anna is so freaking hot talk, just give it up already!!!

Brown vs The Topeka Kansas Board of Education, My Thoughts

"By busing a white or black child two hours or forcing them to sit next to each other at a desk, you may end up with a racially mixed school, but there are tremendous differences in educational results. Inner-city children operate at a disadvantage regardless of their race or ethnicity. They live with the disadvantages brought on by poverty. The inequities today are really socioeconomic and not race or ethnicity."

"It is important that kids, especially middle-class white kids, grow up in schools that reflect the multiracial aspect of the 21st Century. One of the first things you learn in integrated schools is tolerance, understanding, comfort and familiarity."

Both of the above statements are true, yet they come from opposing viewpoints. It has been fifty years since the Supreme Court presided over Brown vs The Topeka Kansas School Board and so much has not changed. I have read a few articles today about this anniversary, most of them fluffy about how we all hold hands and sing kumbaya now that we have integrated schools but the fact remains we are still segregated. How far have we come since the civil rights movement, and is there a need for more legislation and more of an effort to combat racism in this country.

Over that past 5 years I have lived in an area of the world that is still widely segregated and a great deal of racism exist out in the open. This is a stark contrast to where I grew up. I went to what would be considered a melting pot high school in a suburban middle class town. And believe me when I say it was crammed down our throats at every turn, that we were the lucky ones because of where we lived and who we went to school with. As a youngster I did not fully understand it, but now as an adult I feel it was the most important thing I learned as a youngster.

But was my education more important than someone who went to an all white school in the south? What I can tell you is they know more about the civil war than I do that is for sure. Decisions like Brown vs The Board of Education do not always have the affect they intended. Down in the south as more black students were bussed into white school the whites simply sent their children to private schools or moved out of the area. Many of the white schools that were to be integrated have now been swung back from integrated in the 70's to all black now. So has this court ruling worked, or are we back to sperate but equal? Was the 1896 ruling of Plessy vs Ferguson what we wanted all along, saying seperate but equal did not violate the constitution?

These questions can only be answered by how we Americans treat each other on a day to day basis. What is the difference in segregating schools or telling gay people they can't get married? We are fighting a war in Iraq were we disposed the Baath Party who mistreated the Shiites and other ethnic groups, no different the pre 1950's America. We still live in a country were I typed in Ku Klux Klan and got 316,000 web pages in .12 seconds. Basically we have to change how we treat each other and how we feel, and that does start with educating youngsters. If you believe in God you are taught two simple things, treat others as you want to be treated and that God created all of us in his image, that means everyone!! Now if you don't believe in God then what is your basis for believing that one kind of people (black or white, tall or short, straight or gay, fat or thin, man or women) is inherently better or worse than another group? Oh thats right you don't have one. So we must continue to fight these types of segregation and racism wherever they exist in this country, especially in our schools so we can try and change the future. I hope 50 years from now we do not even need to have these types of discussions.

Some Favorite Movie & TV Lines

Do you ever get down on your knees and thank God you know me and have access to my dementia? George Constanza in "Seinfeld"

Don't say a word to me, Sidney, don't say a fucking word to me. I'll get up and I'll bury this telephone in your head. Jimmy Serano in "Midnight Run"

What I don't get is... when you owe a booky a lot of money, and, he, say, blows off one of your toes, you still owe him the money. Dr. Farthing in "Dirty Work"

Christ. Seven years of college down the drain. Might as well join the fucking Peace Corps. John Blutarsky in "Animal House"

Oh. Do you have the Beatles White Album? Never mind, just bring me a cup of hot fat. And the head of Alfredo Garcia. Irwin M. Fletcher in "Fletch"

Oh boy, it looks like it's suicide again for me. Moe Syszlak in "The Simpsons"

This is the kind of place God would go to if He had to stop doing blow. Peter Griffin in "The Family Guy"

You guys have it real easy. I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and your going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you. Herman J. Blume in "Rushmore"

The Daily Nooner

What ever happened to the Flat top hair style, man that thing was bad ass.

I love watching the show Cheers, there really isn't one thing I dislike about it, I always laugh.

There was a horsy race today, and the horsy everyone wanted to win won, to quote the great Derrick Coleman "Whoopty Damn Doo!"

Got the new FHM in the mail today, truly the female breast is a wonderful thing, espcially the ones attached to Brooke Burke.

A teacher in California showed the be-heading of the young american in Iraq to middle school students, are you serious, this teacher should have his balls cut off.

AND

In one week, Saturday Night Live the Best of Christpher Walken, I cannot wait.

The Daily Nooner

I was watching Tyson/Douglas on ESPN Classic tonite, maybe the last great heavyweight fight. Tyson Rules

Why am I home on a Friday night posting on my web site, what a loser

Watched Jeff Dunham on comedy central, I love that guy and all his dolls.

Is there a better food to eat then Nachos, I don't think so.

AND

I love phone sex, or any kind of sex, but phone sex is usually the best I can do.

Peace & Love

KD

I do indeed Love this Game!!!

I know it is very cheesy to say, but the ad slogan is true, I Love this Game. What the NBA playoffs has provided me, and maybe a few others, the past two nights was spectacular. Actually there is still half a game to go between the Wolves and Kings, but I have to talk about the miracle finishes. Derek Fisher, Tim Duncan, and Chaucny Billups. Three very differnt players all making incredible plays. Fisher the all time role player that is all he is and all he ever will be. Billups is the definition of solid pro, a true starter and a guy who may make a few all star games by the time it is all said and done with (the Tino Martinez of the NBA). Then we come to Tim Duncan, nothing short of a Hall of Famer by the time he hangs up the shoes. All three hit the biggest shots of their lives, and only one of them won the game.

The Lakers were basically given up for dead at this time last week. They were down 2-0 to the Spurs nobody could stop Michael Jordan (a.k.a. Tony Parker) and Tim Duncan was ruling over all matters having to do with the paint. But a funny thing happened on the way to the Western Finals, that thing Kobe Bean Bryant. He had 22,6,& 6 in game three an easy Laker victory and then he exploded for 42 in the pivotal game four to send the series even back to the SBC Center. Then comes game five where he slashed his way to the hoop in the second half making great plays and with under a minute to play he came off a screen and roll and knocked down a huge jumper. Then with 11 seconds left the Spurs ran the clock down and tried to have the last shot. Tim Duncan was attempting a dribble hand off with Manu Ginoboli adn instead he dribbled to the top of the key and squared for a shot with a 7'3 300lbs man in his face and calmly drianed a 19 foot jumpshot, in the manner he does all things. Then comes Derrick Fisher what can you say? Personally if I am a coach, I want Kobe to beat me, so I guard him well and if he gets it and hits it so be it. By Horry double teaming Kobe you gave Payton a free look on the inbounds, which is the cardinal sin I believe. But give Fisher the credit he made a big time shot.

Now to Chauncy Billups and hi amazing shot. How many times have all of us done that, in fact Hall Beard and I do it at every arena we attend and usually we miss it. I am one under the impression that the game Chauncy Billups played was very good. Some think he took to many shots to score his thirty, but I will defend him and say he kept them in the game espcially in the first overtime when all his good players had fouled out, and Tayshaun Prince was invisible (which sometimes happens with him). Billups mad some key drives and even dished a few times, but he consitantly put pressure on the Nets defense and kept his team alive. But in the end, as usual it was the inheralded who made the difference. The world Famous Brian Scalabrine was the difference. If you are drunk or high wehn you read this that last sentence was notp a typo.

The playoffs are great. Don't let anyone steer you away from these games, don't let old people tell you about the good ole days, don't let people tell you these are spoiled millionaires. Those things may all be true, but when it comes down to it Rasheed Wallace played 48 gutsy minutes on one foot and Kevin Garnett & Kobe Bryant play their balls off on every possesion. Love this game with all your heart and the drama it provides. Remember it is just an escape so enjoy sports for what they are, fabulous competitions between incredible athlets. Non of these guys are heros or the answer to any of your problems or role models for your children, they are men playing a great game. Thanks Dr. Naismith

Peace & Love

KD

The Daily Nooner

J-Lo is appearntly engaged again. I knew I should bet she would out do Liz Taylor

I heard today on VH1 that 15,000 people turned out to Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes funerl, are you serious??

Al Michaels is a great broadcaster, he could announce a grade school line soccer game and make you really want to be there.

This just in, the Bush camp said somthing bad about John Kerry, and tommorrow Kerry's camp should say something bad about Bush

Hockey is still a great sport, shame nobody watches it

AND

Anyone who has HBO please tape Lewis Black's comedy special saturday night and send it to me.

Peace & Love

KD

Iraqi Prison Photos

Okay this one goes on the what the hell were they thinking file. First of all what the hell were they doing to these prisoners?? I mean San Quentin seems a safer place to be than this freaking place. What was the purpose, that is what nobody has explained to me. Were the soldiers just getting there kicks, were they attempting to interrogate these prisoners? And then regardless of what they were doing who is the sick bastard who pulled out the Kodak and say hey lets get some snapshots of this crap. Have we become this voyerisitc society that these pictures on any level would entertain anyone?

Finally this is an issue that everyone can agree on, this is totally intollerable. I think every one of these soldiers should be dealt with swiftly and justly first by receiving a dishonorable discharge and then have to walk around with a scarlett letter on their chest or some other sort of public humiliation. This war, occupation or whatever you want to call it is unpopular enough and now these morons have gone and made it even more unpopular. And I do not mean just for the sake of those who wanted us to go to war, but for the safety of the young men and women over there. We have seen already the horrible reprecussions that these actions can have, and now I am pissed and hope we kill more of them which probably is not the way I should be thinking, but this is the vicious cycle we get on when it comes to these problems. I just hope we can stop any of this nonsense and continue to help rebuild the schools and economy of the country.

Hidden in all this maddness is one of the best stories to come out of this whole mess. That story is of the Iraqi Olympic Soccer team who just the other day qualified for this summers Olympic games. "It's a crazy joy for us," Iraq defender Ahmed Alwan said. "Despite all of the difficulties we faced, we still managed to qualify for Athens and I believe that we deserve our place in the Olympics." Now that is something we can be proud of, our disposing of Saddam Hussein and his Baath party helped get Iraq reinstated to the International Olympic Committee and allow these young men who love the sport of soccer to be able to compete for there country. As Americans we can be proud of that.

Peace & Love

KD

VH1

In between loathing my own existance and watching commercials during the basketball game last night I had a chacne to check out what was on VH1. I used to like this channel but I must say it is seriously going down hill. They were doing a countdown (all the rage in todays society, everything must have a list)on the "most Awsomely Bad Songs," whatever that means.

First off were does the list come from, who made it up, give me some sort of accountability here. Secondly, they were taking songs in ever literally context of the words being said. You could take any great songwrite or group and find some song where a lyric is stupid and doesn't make sense, in fact the Beatles were thought to have no shot at becoming big because of the lyric "She Loves you, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!" and they seemed to do okay with that song and their careers. The other problem I had was all the people they had on doing commentary about these songs and these groups, again as the kids like to say had no street cred. I had only ever heard of 2 people on the hour long show and that was Matt Pinnfield and Comedian Jim Florentine. They had all these other meaningless comedians on commenting, and not being funny I might add, whom I had never heard of. Now obviously I do not know every comedian out there, but I watch a tremendous amount of stand up, all the shows that feature various comedians and I probably can identify 150 stand ups I know working today in the business and VH1 coudn't find any of them.

Lastly, if you are gonna do a countdown on what songs are good and bad, you should have certain people on to be the judge and make the list. To name a few of those people you migh want Bob Dylan, BB King, Bruce Springsteen, Sir Paul Mcartney, and Chuck D. That way you get a great sampling from all types of music and intelligent people who know something about lyrics and songwriting.

Peace and Love

KD

The Pending Election

Mostly I am not in favor or engaging a discussion about politics, but I am gonna give it a go here today. I was listening to the radio today and they were talking about how close the polls are and how everyone hates Bush and how they all want him to die, and how he is the worst president of all time, and how our country has fallen apart in three years because of him and blah blah blah blah blah.

Two things, first no president is totally to blame for everything nor should he be given the total credit for anything that happens in his administartion(much like a starting QB in the NFL). Every president is effected by the previuos regime, both positive and negative, congress & the house and the supreme court. That was the point in creating a government that has three branches that operate together, so that one person was not given absolute power. The government continues to go on when someone new is elected it is not as iff we stop everything we were doing and start over, it is continuous. Two, your other choice was Al Gore, so it is not like we had a lot to choose from, and Ralph Nader and his crew do not really count, if tree hugging hippies took over this country we would all be dancing in open fields and singing Phish tunes.

Here is my point, sans the Fox news channel, everyone else who is on TV is as liberal as can be. It is like you have to past some test, so to believe polls that you see on TV is probably not a good thing. Here is the problem, especially when a republican is president, the liberals are so outraged every time he goes to the bathroom they just get on TV and yell and scream and wake Susan Saradon and Alec Baldwin up to yell and scream, but here is what the republicans do, VOTE!!!! Plain and simple when push comes to shove they turn out at the polls and vote, and that is why they win elections. Liberal people a lot of the time are too busy making a picket sign or passing a petition around to realize that it is time to vote.

And it is time to get over the whole recount thing, hey Gore you and your Dad represented the state of Tennessee for the better part of 50 years (heck the highway system in Tennessee is named after your dad) and you could not even come close to winning your home state, in fact you lost your home county and most of the people there are related to you.

So if you really dislike what is going on then go vote and stop talking about it, and I don't mean vote for Ruben Stoddard or who should be off the island, but vote for some sort of office someone that matters.

NBA GM’s and Their Obsession

So I was looking over the NBA draft list yesterday and I saw the usually list of high schoolers, early entry college guys, and random foreign names that nobody has ever heard of (except maybe Pavel Polkodzine, who somehow was in the draft last year and again this year, he is the 7’5 Siberian guy). I then got to read an article about this Croatian kid who grew up in Sweden and is best friends with Maciej Lampe (what a great pick he was). He has been playing with some euro league team for the lat 3 years but there is no tape on him and scouts have not seen him play because he never got in the game!!! The best guy on his team was Scoonie Penn, and this slob couldn’t get off the bench. So apparently he came over here to work at some strength clinic that helped NENE a couple years ago, and now he put on 20 pounds so he is a star, basically he is a foreign guy who nobody has seen who is 19 and has a “Nowitzki” game. If he had a “Nowitzki” game he would have been playing over guys like Scoonie Penn.

This ridiculous article prompted me to do some serious research over the last 3 NBA drafts and check out just who are the right guys to pick and how if you are slotted as a second round pick you should choose another line of work. This is going to be a tremendous amount of numbers so be sure and get your slide rule out and follow along.

The 2001 draft where Kwame Brown was the #1 pick there were 20 Early Entry (EE) 6 Foreigners (F) and 5 High Schoolers (HS) picked, that is a whopping 58% of the guys drafted. Of those 32 drafted 11 are longer in the league and the ones that are in the league are mediocre at best. In that group the 3 foreign guys drafted in the first round have had the most impact, scoring 11.6ppg and starting 35 games a year, which is still not that good. Eight of the EE guys are not even in the league anymore and the 2 second round foreign guys are nowhere to be found. The EE guys in the 1st round averaged 9.3ppg over three seasons, and the second round guys 6.4ppg in a big 26 games a year. Never mind the high school kids, the one second round guy is not in the league and the four 1st round guys are starting 28 games a year and scoring a pultry 6.9ppg. So basically those guys in that draft where not worth drafting, they have had three years and there impact has been minimal, but as the number of drafted gets higher the numbers get worse.

Now we come to the Yao draft of 2002, which I call the Early Entry draft. This one was unbelievable 39 of the draftees were EE, F or HS which is 67%, that is a staggering number. There were 24 EE’s and 5 of those have already disappeared, 14 F’s and 8 of those (all second rounders) are not in the league and one high school guy, Amare Stoudamire who has done well for himself. There were 15 EE’s taken in the first round and through two seasons the one with the highest ppg. is Caron Butler at 12.5ppg. (This next sentence said in a Hubie Brown to Dick Stockton TNT analyst voice) The average for these young men is 6.1ppg in 17.8mpg. As for the foreigners there were 6 first round guys who are dominating the league with 7.9ppg in an average of 37 starts a season. However, Yao and NENE have both been solid players, so if you do not get obsessed with taking every foreign talent or high school kid out there you can have a some decent picks, as you see with the amount of EE guys the more you pick the more chance there is for failure, but last year GM”S were overrun with stupidity and drafted ridiculously bad people.

In 2003 we all know there were some marvelous young talents out there and a few of them have done very well for themselves and still the numbers are way down. The numbers breakdown this way 11 EE’s, 19 F’s and 5 HS’s for a grand total of 34 which is 57% of the draftees. Out of those 34 does anyone know how many averaged double digit points? 4, that’s it 4, LeBron, Carmelo, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. Even with LeBron’s lofty numbers if you average him in with the other HS’s they drag him down like a D in psychology 101. The HS’s averaged 11.8mpg and 6.2ppg while playing in a measly average of 28 games this season. There were 19 F’s drafted and there superstar was the great Mickael Pietrus who scored 5.3ppg on the 37 win Warriors. Almost half of those foreign guys have yet to make an NBA roster for one reason or another, 9 of the 19 are nowhere to be found and the ones that are here have played in and average of 50 games, started an average of 9 of those games and scored a whopping 4.2ppg. Those are just superb numbers, now I see why coach’s get fired every 6 minutes in the NBA, how about giving them something to work with. Orlando used a second round pick on Zaur Pachulia from Georgia, not the University the country, the Atlanta Hawks who recently fired there coach used a first round pick on soon to be perennial MVP candidate Boris Diaw, who played 25mpg and scored 4.5ppg. Here are some proven 4 year college guys picked after Mr. Diaw, Josh Howard who scored 8.5ppg, Kyle Korver who scored 4.5ppg in only 11mpg, and Steve Blake who averaged 6ppg in 18mpg. But apparently it is Terry Stotts fault that the Hawks are no good. Now for the Utah Jazz, who left the cupboard pretty dry for Mr. Sloan, they drafted Aleksander Pavlovic (14.5mpg 4.8ppg) and Maurice Williams (13.5mpg 5ppg) and he almost made the playoffs in the Western Conference, he should be given a lifetime contract.

So what is my whole point in this incoherent rambling nonsense? I have no point, just that the GM’s should be held accountable sometimes. It seems to me that when teams do poorly they escape most of the blame. When you think about the fact that every Eastern Conference team switched coach’s in the last 15 months, yet the GM’s have drafted such superstars as Zoran Planicic, Darko Milicic, Carlos Delfino, Dajuan Wagner, Jared Jeffries, Marcus Haislip, Jiri Welsch, Nenad Krstic, DeSagana Diop, Joe Forte, and Samuel Dalembert over the past three seasons. I demand my NBA back and I do not want to see Damir Omerhodzic, Cleiton Sebastiao, or the ever popular Pavel Polkodzine drafted in any round.

What Dream Team?

Recently the agent for Kobe Bryant announced that his client will be unavailable to play in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Kevin Garnett said that he will not play this summer either. These defections of probably the two best basketball players on the planet could seriously affect the “Dream Teams” chance of winning Olympic Gold. By the way can we stop using the phrase “Dream Team?” My “Dream Team” has Wilt, Jordan, Magic, Larry, Kareem, and Oscar all playing in heaven on the same team. I truly feel that if the NBA and USA Basketball got together and really sent our 12 best players over to Greece we would easily walk away with gold.

I understand that the Europeans, Asians, and Australians have made great strides in the game of basketball. In fact some of the best players in the league hail from other continents, like Peja Stojakovic, Yao Ming, and Dirk Nowitzki. Yet I still believe America has the greatest supply of talent. The Foreign teams can run out a comparable starting five to the Americans, but the overall depth would lead the USA to victory. The overall collection of talent in the NBA is comprised of mostly American born players. Over the last two seasons the All-NBA teams have been comprised of 25 US born players, one Canadian, one German, one Chinese, and one Serbian. This shows that even the great foreign talent is spread out all over the world. I just want the best US Team to go out there and see how well they can play.

When I talk about the best team we can put out there, I am not talking about Karl Malone, Mike Bibby, Richard Jefferson, and Ray Allen, who are all scheduled to compete this summer for the red whit and blue. I am talking about the 12 best players in the league, and those players are; Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, Jason Kidd, LeBron James, Jermaine O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, and Chris Webber. The last two spots depend on your personal preference of guys like Paul Pierce, Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, Baron Davis, Stephon Marbury and Sam Cassell. Give me that core group of ten players and I guarantee a gold medal winning team. In fact give me those ten guys and throw in the two best college players in the land to reward them, Emeka Okafor and Jameer Nelson.

I am an American and I hate to lose. Realistically I do not mind losing, as long as you go down with your best chance to win. Your best chance in basketball is to run your best players out there and have them give it their all. If you lose doing that than you shake the other guys hand and say great job. I am sick of running third rate NBA ball players out there and losing and wondering why we lost. I want a real “Dream Team” to be back out there in Athens come this August.

SPORTS, LIFE, & THE MOVIES

I just finished watching Denzel Washington in one of his great roles as Coach Boone in Remember the Titans. It got me to thinking about the great sports movies of all time and what attracts us to them. Simple, drama is what engages us about sports and sports movies. The drama of whether or not this is Phil Mickelson’s year for a major or can Kurt Russell’s boys beat the Soviets in Miracle. Drama is real life and in order to survive in life we have to persevere, and in most sports movies there is a great deal of perseverance. Coaches always talk about how sports mirror life and this is most evident in what sports stories make great movies. The movies with the most perseverance and the best to watch are the ones that are based on true stories.

Recently ESPN’s Page 2 compiled a list of the 20 greatest sports movies of all time. Excluding the 4 comedies 9 of the other 16 are movies based on true stories. Most people would have to agree that Rocky, Hoosiers, Raging Bull, and Eight Men Out are among the top sports movies of all time. All of these movies portray the lessons we learn about life through sports. Rocky was written by Sylvester Stallone when he was inspired by the real life tale of “The Bayonne Bleeder” Chuck Wepner who stood toe to toe with Muhammed Ali. Carpe Diem, that is what Rocky is about, taking advantage of that once in lifetime opportunity. Hoosiers lets us know that if we come together, as sports so often teaches us to do, great things can be achieved no matter what the obstacles. These movies truly show us how sports are a great metaphor for life. Life may have us down at some point but at anytime there is chance for redemption.

As in all walks of life sports has it share of tragedy and tragic characters. Raging Bull shows us the self destructive nature that hides inside us all. Robert DeNiro brilliantly plays the talented but self loathing Jake LaMotta. The same passion and rage that drives him as a fighter also drives him to paranoia and his ultimate self destruction. His life spirals out of control and he loses everything, his career, his family, and the admiration of his friends. In Eight Men Out we are given a cautionary tale of how a quick fix can go terribly wrong. The ballplayers knew that taking money from gamblers to lose games was wrong, but they saw no other way out of the situation their owner had put them in. This is a reflex action that almost every one of us has had in life, where we do something we know is wrong yet we feel it is the only way to solve our current situation. These dramatic films portray the tragedy that can befall anyone of us throughout life if we are not careful.

The real life drama of sports engages us on a daily basis. When these dramas are brought to the screen through movies we get to see the best and worst of the human spirit through the sports arena. Watching Remember the Titans tonight made me realize what is good in sports and how it can teach us so much about life. Yes some of the drama in these movies is made up, but the spirit of them is just the same. We live for those moments in our lives when we have the opportunity to do something we thought may not be possible and sports brings us those moments routinely. Hopefully the positive lessons that sports teaches us and our children can be carried over into our everyday lives.

Fantasy Baseball Team

So I went and checked my fantasy baseball team and I am the worst team ever. Now mind you I had the first pick in the draft, and study stats like my name was Tim Kurkjian before the draft, and this is what all that has yielded me:

Player Career Avg. Current Avg. Difference
A. Pujols .330 .276 54 points
J. Vidro .305 .268 37 points
E. Hinske .261 .243 18 points
D. Jeter .314 .186 128 points
S. Podsednik .305 .293 12 points
Chipper Jones .308 .268 40 points
R. Sexson .272 .241 31 points
Those are some great batting numbers, now pitching:

Player Career ERA Current ERA Starts W-L
R. Oswalt 2.92 2.90 7 2-1 (2 wins, thanks Houston big help)
J. Peavy 3.96 1.94 7 2-2 (What, 2 wins w/1.94??)
J. Santana 4.09 5.26 7 1-0 (Great job Johan)
B. Webb 2.87 3.02 7 2-2 (talk about tough luck, geez)
M. Buerhle 3.80 5.27 7 1-1 (Good thing he sucks)
J. Vazquez 4.14 3.73 6 3-3 (Finally someone doing decent)
41 11-9 (Wow that is terrible)
So there is my overall suckiness. One would figure with all this useless time I could put together a winner, but alas I am destined to be a loser my entire life, which most of you were well aware of for sometime.