It's been two days since Manny Pacquiao's 9th Round TKO of David Diaz and J-Smooth has yet to blog about it ... I bet my readership is surprised ... anyhow, what's there to comment on, that isn't already obvious ... sure, David Diaz is not an A-Class prizefighter, however, to his credit, he showed a lot of guts and demonstrated his tough chin, taking some of Pacman's best shots and combinations, and still lasting 9 Rounds ... If he wasn't the champion in the fight, and the commentators even acknowledged this, the fight would've been stopped a lot sooner ... He was simply outclassed, outboxed, out(fill in the verb, adjective, whatever) by Pacquiao ... Manny, on the otherhand, demonstrated his vastly improved boxing skills and use of his right hand (he's a southpaw for those of you that don't know) ... he was too fast and too strong ... his jab was so effective, and he even unveiled a new weapon in his arsenal, the left uppercut ... I have to admit, I was surprised when I saw that ... With the win, not only did Pacquiao secure the WBC Lightweight Championship, but that makes it his fourth world championship in as many divisions ... that's pretty elite company, among the likes of: "Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya, Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather ... One final comment on Saturday's Pacquiao bout, I was very surprised seeing The NBA Champion Boston Celtics in Pacquiao's lockerroom after the fight to congratulate him ... Manny's always been a basketball fan, but is apparently a big Celtics fan, ughhh! why?! ... but whatever, it was a surreal thing to hear Kevin Garnett telling Pacquiao that he was his number 1 fan, and what was even more surreal was the Celtics (Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell among others) all chanting "Manny!, Manny!, Manny!" ... I knew Pacquiao was big, but to see him get that kind of respect is amazing ... Way to make all the Filipinos proud Manny! ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB6sXZB4Jx4
I'm happy about the win, but I'm already looking forward to the next fight, and based on reports it's looking like a November 8th bout with undefeated Venezuelan knockout artist Edwin Valero (all his wins have come by way of knockout) ...
After that, matchups I'd like to see, and surely other fight fans as well:
1) Juan Manuel Marquez - their rematch this past March was billed "Unfinished Business", but business is FAR from finished ... for those of you living under a rock, the fight ended in a draw in favour of Pacquiao, but there are those (in particular Mexicans, Marquez fans and Pacquiao-haters) who saw it the other way ... Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, said that he can envision a third fight in 2009, that's assuming Marquez gets by Joel Casamayor on September 13th ... This in my opinion would be one of the most important fights in boxing ... it would cement the legacies of both men ...
2) The winner of Nate Campbell and Joan Guzman - like the Marquez-Casamayor fight, this takes place on September 13th ... the significance of this bout is that it is for the WBA-IBF-WBO Lightweight Championship, that's three quarters of the title (Manny has the other, obviously) ... I would love to see Manny unify all the belts, he'd be one of the few that have actually done so (a list which includes Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor) ...
3) Ricky Hatton - now this fight would be HUGE! ... I can just imagine the buyrates ... England and The Philippines would be set on fire for this one ... The two concerns I have for this are, 1) that the fight would be contested at the 140 pound weight class and 2) Hatton's a big body puncher, he ended one of his fights with a shot to his opponent's liver ... but with a win over Hatton, Pacquiao would not only have to be considered the best in the world, but have to be discussed among the best of all-time ...
4) Floyd Mayweather - hey, a fight fan can dream, can't he? ... there are so many reasons why this fight would never happen, among them: Mayweather's "retirement", his refusal to work with Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum, how he avoids any fighter who is a legitimate threat ... but the one thing Floyd loves is money, hence "Money" Mayweather ... A Pacquiao-Mayweather bout would probably garner the same kind of $$$ as the De La Hoya - Mayweather bout from last year ... like I said, it will likely not happen, but as all boxing fans know, money talks ...
One,
- J -
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
So Long TJ; NBA Draft; Pacquiao; Jays
You know what? ... I'm really starting to resent Bryan Colangelo ... In the past two years, he's traded my favourite two players that've worn a Craptors jersey since Tracy McGrady left town ... In 2006, he got rid of Charlie Villanueva, who I honestly think is a better player than anyone on the current Raptors roster (with maybe the exception of Bosh) ... But the good news was, that he dealt CV31 for TJ Ford, so at the time I said I could live with that deal ... But, fast-forward 2 years later, Bryan Colangelo giveth, Bryan Colangelo taketh away ... TJ is apparently on his way to The Indiana Pacers, a deal-in-principle has been reached, for Jermaine O'Neal ... To quote the illustrious Chuck Swirsky, "Are you kidding me?!" ... Isn't this the same J.O. that makes $20M+ per season, and hasn't been able to stay healthy over the past few years? ... way to kill our cap and trade away a promising young player for an aging vet, Colangelo ... by far, the stupidest move Colangelo has made, actually I take that back, drafting Andrea Scrub-nani with the first pick in '06 was the dumbest, so this is a close second ... Best of luck TJ, I can honestly see you becoming an All-Star in Indiana and carrying that squad into the playoffs next season ... Now that I think about it, a TJ Ford - Danny Granger combo would be pretty nice, it gives me an Eastern Conference team to follow next year ... To h*ll with the Craptors! ...
-NBA Draft tomorrow, can't wait ... The day that hopefully sees the birth of the NBA's next great dynamic duo, Jerryd Bayless and Kevin Durant ... Get it done Seattle! ...
-Manny Pacquiao versus David Diaz this Saturday Night for the WBC Lightweight Championship ... I don't think I need to say who I'm pulling for ...
-So the Toronto Blue Jays fired their manager and re-hired Cito Gaston ... something else to add to this whole "Retro" thing that seems to be going around ... For some reason, I have the feeling that J.P. Ricciardi didn't made that call, hopefully J.P. is next to get his pink slip ...
nothing else to say ...
- J -
-NBA Draft tomorrow, can't wait ... The day that hopefully sees the birth of the NBA's next great dynamic duo, Jerryd Bayless and Kevin Durant ... Get it done Seattle! ...
-Manny Pacquiao versus David Diaz this Saturday Night for the WBC Lightweight Championship ... I don't think I need to say who I'm pulling for ...
-So the Toronto Blue Jays fired their manager and re-hired Cito Gaston ... something else to add to this whole "Retro" thing that seems to be going around ... For some reason, I have the feeling that J.P. Ricciardi didn't made that call, hopefully J.P. is next to get his pink slip ...
nothing else to say ...
- J -
Saturday, June 21, 2008
D-Mac Golf Challenge Recap
I was looking forward to this game, and man it didn't disappoint ... The one thing I was anxious to do was unveil my corrected swing, however what I was worried about was my shortgame (meaning 50-60 yards from the pin/flagstick) ... So we got started, it was my Uncle Rev, cousin Giggs, my Dad and myself ... First hole, Par 4, my first shot faded slightly and landed on a small hill just off the fairway, not a good start ... but my second shot was a thing of beauty, 160 yards from the pin, I used a 7 Iron and put the ball on the green ... I couldn't believe it, on the green in two, I don't think I've done that in my life up till then ... just like the pros, now I had myself a chance to putt for birdie ... to my disappointment, I three-putted the hole and ended up with a bogey ... my putter, which is usually efficient, really let me down there, this was a trend that continued throughout the day ... over the next 5 holes (2-6), I three-putted all of them, resulting in double-bogeys on all 5 holes ... Now I'm not a professional golfer, so I was pretty content with that ... what put light on the situation was that after those first 6 holes, I was only 4 strokes back of my Dad, who was leading and 3 stokes back of Giggs, oh yeah Uncle Rev was 1 back of me ... Throughout my golfing "career", I was already out of it at that point in the game, where I had one or two bad holes shooting something like an 8 or 9 ... so to not be in last that deep into a game and actually be in contention to win, was extremely gratifying ... but after that sixth hole, things went south ... I effectively shot myself out of the game, with those "bad holes" I was talking about, and at the same time, that is when my Dad and Giggs, turned up their games with pars or bogeys on their next few holes ...
Just to veer for a minute, and describe the atmosphere yesterday ... Anyone that knows my family or myself, knows that the competitiveness is in the blood ... We try to really out-do each other in anything, whether it be basketball, pool, golf, video games or hey even stuff like arm-wrestling or kareoke ... Yesterday was no different ... There was a lot of sh*t talking, but it was all in good fun, that's how we are ... The three of them, all marveled at the power in my swing (I was hitting my 3-Wood longer than each of them with their Drivers) ... When it came down to hitting my shots from the tee or putts or any shot for that matter, I was all business, had my game-face on and everything ... but in between shots, it was all fun and jokes between the four of us ... I even had them all laughing their *sses off, because I was mimicking Tiger Woods' mannerisms throughout (like the way he throws blades of grass in the air to gage the wind, the way he sets up for his shots, the way he reads the greens) ... getting to spend time with Fam is always cool ...
Perhaps, the lowlight, was when we nearly got into a confrontation with this impatient *sshole in the group behind us ... he said something to my cousin, to the effect of, we had to speed it up ... I'm thinking, you f*ckin' moron, are you blind, it isn't us, it's the group directly in front of us ... The group in front of us was playing such a slow pace the whole day, but we didn't let it get to us ...
Giggs: It's not us, it's the guys in front
Idiot: There's no one even there
(Then I'm thinking, it's a f*ckin' dogleg hole, there was no visual, but we were fully aware that the group ahead of us was still in the middle of the fairway, because they had just completed their tee shots, when we arrived at the hole, if we all took our shots at that point we likely could've hit someone in the group ahead, and this *sshole has the nerve to actually b*tch and complain)
Giggs: It's a dog leg what do you expect?
Idiot: Slow pace, a really slow pace
From there, my Dad, uncle and cousin all shook it off, like whatever, and started walking to their second shot ... But me, I'm a different breed, I took my time getting my club back into my bag, and kept my eye on this *sshole the entire time ... He was staring back ... I tell you, my blood started to boil at that point ... but I wasn't going to be intimidated ... He turned away, but I still stood there, giving him dirty looks, then he looked up again ... I'm still standing there, holding my ground, he turns away again and walks over to his bag ...
I'm telling you, all it would've taken was for him to push one more button and I would've went off verbally, whether it be on his appearance, his Wal-Mart quality wardrobe or even his race (he was white BTW) ... J-Smooth's got all this bottled up anger inside, and when he's pushed, he responds with pure anger and pure hate ... Now if the guy actually stepped up to me, he would've taken my sand wedge right to his temple ... I didn't give a f*ck at that point, there's nothing that p*sses me off more than when someone goes at one of my family members, besides, I would've had my Fam there to back me up anyways ...
Anyways, when I regrouped with my Fam, we all laughed it off ... I told my cousin, if he says something to him again, I would be in that guy's grill in one second ... my cousin was like, "I'm sure they won't" ... then my uncle piped in and said, "don't worry I'll be behind you with my club in hand" ... LOL ... we weren't going to let that ruin the day, so we got back to golf ...
by the time we got to the last hole, Uncle Rev and myself were already out of it, my Dad had a comfortable 3 stroke lead over Giggs ... but then my cousin wanted to make things more interesting, this last hole would be for money, just like a skins game ... So it was on! ... my father and uncle shot themselves out of this competition with horrible tee shots ... Then Giggs stepped up to the tee, and hit his best drive of the day by far ... it turns out that the shot went about 240 yards right in the middle of the fairway ...
Giggs: The pressure's all on you J ... c'mmon you have to make this a competition
J-Smooth: Pressure? ... I don't understand, what does that mean? pressure?
(Laughs from everyone)
This was my shining moment, I stepped up to the tee box, and responded by belting a 290-yard bomb ... this shot was picture perfect, distance, height, straight and right in the middle of the fairway ... everyone was shaking their heads in disbelief ... This was now essentially a competition between Giggs and myself ...
Dad: Holy Sh*t!
J-Smooth: it's on now
Uncle Rev: woooo, Tiger Woods answers back ... I mean Tigress (it was a running joke the whole day, in reference to my Tiger-like power and my usage of women's balls, Nike Power Lady)
J-Smooth: (towards Giggs) be careful what you ask for ... oh yeah, can you explain to me what pressure means
Now this was a duel ... 2nd shots, Giggs and myself, both identical, our shots both landed on the fringe, just 3 feet off the green ...
Giggs: looks like we're going to finish in a tie, we can split the pot
J-Smooth: are you crazy?! ... I'm going for the win
3rd shot ... Giggs up first, he chipped his ball onto the green just 7 feet from the pin ... great shot ... then I was up, and responded in a big way ... my chip shot landed just 6 feet from the pin ... my father and uncle finished up the hole, then Giggs set up for his par putt, unfortunately for him, it broke about two inches to the right of the hole, then he tapped in for his bogey ... The stage was then set for me, I was the only one left on the green, with a chance to putt for par and an outright win of this "skins challenge" ... I have to admit I was nervous, the adrenaline was pumping, I stepped up to my ball but I was so anxious that it took my Dad to point out, "hey, you still have your putter cover on!" ... LOL, it got laughs from my family too ... I went through the Tiger pre-shot rountine, lined up my putt and stepped up ... MONEY!!! ... I was so pumped, jumped in the air, Tiger fist pumping, just like I'd won The Masters ... I've never been happier winning $3 (a dollar each) in my life!, LMFAO ... I tell you, those 3 loonies felt like a million ... a pressure-packed putt, and my first par of the entire day, it couldn't have come at a more opportune time ... the story of that magical hole will be told at family parties for years to come ... It was just a classic tale of "What you can do, I can do better" ... What can I say, only that, great players step up big, in clutch situations, LOL ...
I'm extremely satisfied with how I played yesterday, the most consistent round of golf I'd ever played ... now that my swing has been corrected, I have to start working on my putting ... All-in-all it was a great day of golf and time well spent with Family ... I'm sure there's more golf and more competition to come this summer, when Zona and his Family get up here ... all I can say is that I'm looking forward to it ...
One,
- J -
Just to veer for a minute, and describe the atmosphere yesterday ... Anyone that knows my family or myself, knows that the competitiveness is in the blood ... We try to really out-do each other in anything, whether it be basketball, pool, golf, video games or hey even stuff like arm-wrestling or kareoke ... Yesterday was no different ... There was a lot of sh*t talking, but it was all in good fun, that's how we are ... The three of them, all marveled at the power in my swing (I was hitting my 3-Wood longer than each of them with their Drivers) ... When it came down to hitting my shots from the tee or putts or any shot for that matter, I was all business, had my game-face on and everything ... but in between shots, it was all fun and jokes between the four of us ... I even had them all laughing their *sses off, because I was mimicking Tiger Woods' mannerisms throughout (like the way he throws blades of grass in the air to gage the wind, the way he sets up for his shots, the way he reads the greens) ... getting to spend time with Fam is always cool ...
Perhaps, the lowlight, was when we nearly got into a confrontation with this impatient *sshole in the group behind us ... he said something to my cousin, to the effect of, we had to speed it up ... I'm thinking, you f*ckin' moron, are you blind, it isn't us, it's the group directly in front of us ... The group in front of us was playing such a slow pace the whole day, but we didn't let it get to us ...
Giggs: It's not us, it's the guys in front
Idiot: There's no one even there
(Then I'm thinking, it's a f*ckin' dogleg hole, there was no visual, but we were fully aware that the group ahead of us was still in the middle of the fairway, because they had just completed their tee shots, when we arrived at the hole, if we all took our shots at that point we likely could've hit someone in the group ahead, and this *sshole has the nerve to actually b*tch and complain)
Giggs: It's a dog leg what do you expect?
Idiot: Slow pace, a really slow pace
From there, my Dad, uncle and cousin all shook it off, like whatever, and started walking to their second shot ... But me, I'm a different breed, I took my time getting my club back into my bag, and kept my eye on this *sshole the entire time ... He was staring back ... I tell you, my blood started to boil at that point ... but I wasn't going to be intimidated ... He turned away, but I still stood there, giving him dirty looks, then he looked up again ... I'm still standing there, holding my ground, he turns away again and walks over to his bag ...
I'm telling you, all it would've taken was for him to push one more button and I would've went off verbally, whether it be on his appearance, his Wal-Mart quality wardrobe or even his race (he was white BTW) ... J-Smooth's got all this bottled up anger inside, and when he's pushed, he responds with pure anger and pure hate ... Now if the guy actually stepped up to me, he would've taken my sand wedge right to his temple ... I didn't give a f*ck at that point, there's nothing that p*sses me off more than when someone goes at one of my family members, besides, I would've had my Fam there to back me up anyways ...
Anyways, when I regrouped with my Fam, we all laughed it off ... I told my cousin, if he says something to him again, I would be in that guy's grill in one second ... my cousin was like, "I'm sure they won't" ... then my uncle piped in and said, "don't worry I'll be behind you with my club in hand" ... LOL ... we weren't going to let that ruin the day, so we got back to golf ...
by the time we got to the last hole, Uncle Rev and myself were already out of it, my Dad had a comfortable 3 stroke lead over Giggs ... but then my cousin wanted to make things more interesting, this last hole would be for money, just like a skins game ... So it was on! ... my father and uncle shot themselves out of this competition with horrible tee shots ... Then Giggs stepped up to the tee, and hit his best drive of the day by far ... it turns out that the shot went about 240 yards right in the middle of the fairway ...
Giggs: The pressure's all on you J ... c'mmon you have to make this a competition
J-Smooth: Pressure? ... I don't understand, what does that mean? pressure?
(Laughs from everyone)
This was my shining moment, I stepped up to the tee box, and responded by belting a 290-yard bomb ... this shot was picture perfect, distance, height, straight and right in the middle of the fairway ... everyone was shaking their heads in disbelief ... This was now essentially a competition between Giggs and myself ...
Dad: Holy Sh*t!
J-Smooth: it's on now
Uncle Rev: woooo, Tiger Woods answers back ... I mean Tigress (it was a running joke the whole day, in reference to my Tiger-like power and my usage of women's balls, Nike Power Lady)
J-Smooth: (towards Giggs) be careful what you ask for ... oh yeah, can you explain to me what pressure means
Now this was a duel ... 2nd shots, Giggs and myself, both identical, our shots both landed on the fringe, just 3 feet off the green ...
Giggs: looks like we're going to finish in a tie, we can split the pot
J-Smooth: are you crazy?! ... I'm going for the win
3rd shot ... Giggs up first, he chipped his ball onto the green just 7 feet from the pin ... great shot ... then I was up, and responded in a big way ... my chip shot landed just 6 feet from the pin ... my father and uncle finished up the hole, then Giggs set up for his par putt, unfortunately for him, it broke about two inches to the right of the hole, then he tapped in for his bogey ... The stage was then set for me, I was the only one left on the green, with a chance to putt for par and an outright win of this "skins challenge" ... I have to admit I was nervous, the adrenaline was pumping, I stepped up to my ball but I was so anxious that it took my Dad to point out, "hey, you still have your putter cover on!" ... LOL, it got laughs from my family too ... I went through the Tiger pre-shot rountine, lined up my putt and stepped up ... MONEY!!! ... I was so pumped, jumped in the air, Tiger fist pumping, just like I'd won The Masters ... I've never been happier winning $3 (a dollar each) in my life!, LMFAO ... I tell you, those 3 loonies felt like a million ... a pressure-packed putt, and my first par of the entire day, it couldn't have come at a more opportune time ... the story of that magical hole will be told at family parties for years to come ... It was just a classic tale of "What you can do, I can do better" ... What can I say, only that, great players step up big, in clutch situations, LOL ...
I'm extremely satisfied with how I played yesterday, the most consistent round of golf I'd ever played ... now that my swing has been corrected, I have to start working on my putting ... All-in-all it was a great day of golf and time well spent with Family ... I'm sure there's more golf and more competition to come this summer, when Zona and his Family get up here ... all I can say is that I'm looking forward to it ...
One,
- J -
Thursday, June 19, 2008
TSN Sportscentre
I was at Honda this morning to get an oil change for my car, so sitting in the waiting area I was watching TSN Sportscentre ... Now I don't regularly watch sports highlight shows, and I never watch TSN for one reason, their incredible bias towards hockey ... Unbelievable, the hockey season has been done for a few weeks now and I estimate about 10 minutes of their first half hour was devoted to hockey, the NHL draft ... Those of you from Toronto will probably say, "and you're surprised?" ... My response, not at all, but just that there seems to be no escaping probably one of the most boring sports on the planet next to soccer, that's unless I leave Canada ... But I will give TSN credit though, they did have one nice feature, in light of the Celtics' trio of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce winning their first championship together, TSN's top 10 was on the most memorable trios in sports history ... The number one spot, obviously was a hockey trio, so I'm not going to comment on that, same with the number 3 and 9 spots ... but the rest were as follows, not in order:
2) Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy - Los Angeles Lakers
5) Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish - Boston Celtics
-They were just before my time, I remember watching Magic and Bird obviously, but never really thought much of their teammates at the time ... the thing is, I never really considered their teammates (with the exception of Jabbar) to be "great" until they left the game ...
2) Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Roger Craig - San Francisco 49ers
6) Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin - Dallas Cowboys
-back then, my 2nd fave team behind the Buffalo Bills were the 49ers ... but I don't know if I would call that a great "trio", more like a "duo" ... I won't even comment on the Cowboys, my loyalties are elsewhere, they broke my heart on a couple of occasions, so I can never be a fan of theirs ...
8) Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz - Atlanta Braves
-undisputed, most dominant pitching rotation of the 1990's ... the envy of the major leagues, even though I was a Jays fan at the time, those three were the reason why I became a fan of the "chopshop" as well ...
10) John Olerud, Paul Molitor, Roberto Alomar - Toronto Blue Jays
-in 1993 they were 1-2-3 in the American League in hitting, the first time it had been done in the century ... but I don't know if I would call it a trio, because that whole team was sick! ... The core was Joe Carter, Alomar and Devon White ... they also had Dave Stewart, Juan Guzman, Pat Hentgen in the rotation; Duane Ward, the best closer in the game at the time; Molitor, Tony Fernandez and my favourite all-time Jays acquisition Rickey Henderson, the best leadoff hitter to ever play the game ... that was just '93, their 1992 squad featured great pitching: Jack Morris, David Cone, Jimmy Key and closer Tom Henke, not to mention they also had Dave Winfield ... man were we spoiled back then ... when Paul Beeston and Pat Gillick left the Jays' front office, the brains went with them ... the Jays haven't had an intelligent person at the head post since then ... hey J.P., I'm sure your 5-year plan will pay off anytime now, what's it been? 7 years now, and Toronto still hasn't seen significant September baseball under your regime ... but to be fair and all things considered, in today's age of baseball, it's nearly impossible to assemble a team or keep teams together with that much talent, unless you have a New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox type budget ($200M/yr) ... but then again, any person with any kind of brains would not give J.P. that kind of budget, he'd probably blow it on more washed-up or over-rated ball players ...
now my all-time favourite trio, which would've been number 1 if I compiled this list
7) Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman - Chicago Bulls
I could write a 30 page dissertation on them to talk about their accomplishments and why they were great, but just some points
-MJ, the greatest player of all-time and perhaps ever will be
-Rodman, the greatest defender of all-time, the only guy that ever stopped Shaq in his prime
-Pip, the best utility player that I've seen, he could play 4 positions and was a great defender as well
-in 1995-96 they led the Bulls to an NBA record 72 wins and all three were on the NBA All-Defensive team
-they were so intimidating and dominant that opposing teams mentally conceded, sometimes half-way through the game
-won three titles as a unit and they probably could've won another 2-3 more if they'd stuck together
TSN, props on the feature ...
One,
- J -
2) Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy - Los Angeles Lakers
5) Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish - Boston Celtics
-They were just before my time, I remember watching Magic and Bird obviously, but never really thought much of their teammates at the time ... the thing is, I never really considered their teammates (with the exception of Jabbar) to be "great" until they left the game ...
2) Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Roger Craig - San Francisco 49ers
6) Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin - Dallas Cowboys
-back then, my 2nd fave team behind the Buffalo Bills were the 49ers ... but I don't know if I would call that a great "trio", more like a "duo" ... I won't even comment on the Cowboys, my loyalties are elsewhere, they broke my heart on a couple of occasions, so I can never be a fan of theirs ...
8) Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz - Atlanta Braves
-undisputed, most dominant pitching rotation of the 1990's ... the envy of the major leagues, even though I was a Jays fan at the time, those three were the reason why I became a fan of the "chopshop" as well ...
10) John Olerud, Paul Molitor, Roberto Alomar - Toronto Blue Jays
-in 1993 they were 1-2-3 in the American League in hitting, the first time it had been done in the century ... but I don't know if I would call it a trio, because that whole team was sick! ... The core was Joe Carter, Alomar and Devon White ... they also had Dave Stewart, Juan Guzman, Pat Hentgen in the rotation; Duane Ward, the best closer in the game at the time; Molitor, Tony Fernandez and my favourite all-time Jays acquisition Rickey Henderson, the best leadoff hitter to ever play the game ... that was just '93, their 1992 squad featured great pitching: Jack Morris, David Cone, Jimmy Key and closer Tom Henke, not to mention they also had Dave Winfield ... man were we spoiled back then ... when Paul Beeston and Pat Gillick left the Jays' front office, the brains went with them ... the Jays haven't had an intelligent person at the head post since then ... hey J.P., I'm sure your 5-year plan will pay off anytime now, what's it been? 7 years now, and Toronto still hasn't seen significant September baseball under your regime ... but to be fair and all things considered, in today's age of baseball, it's nearly impossible to assemble a team or keep teams together with that much talent, unless you have a New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox type budget ($200M/yr) ... but then again, any person with any kind of brains would not give J.P. that kind of budget, he'd probably blow it on more washed-up or over-rated ball players ...
now my all-time favourite trio, which would've been number 1 if I compiled this list
7) Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman - Chicago Bulls
I could write a 30 page dissertation on them to talk about their accomplishments and why they were great, but just some points
-MJ, the greatest player of all-time and perhaps ever will be
-Rodman, the greatest defender of all-time, the only guy that ever stopped Shaq in his prime
-Pip, the best utility player that I've seen, he could play 4 positions and was a great defender as well
-in 1995-96 they led the Bulls to an NBA record 72 wins and all three were on the NBA All-Defensive team
-they were so intimidating and dominant that opposing teams mentally conceded, sometimes half-way through the game
-won three titles as a unit and they probably could've won another 2-3 more if they'd stuck together
TSN, props on the feature ...
One,
- J -
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Random Shots; DVD Review
-I glanced real quick at today's issue of Metro ... I read snipets of an article talking about a Markham businessman's beef with drivethrus of fast food restaurants and coffee shops ... the article obviously spoke about the gas consumption and emissions from cars lining up in the drivethru ... Whenever I see that, I think, lazy*ss Canadians ... I understand that some people may be in a hurry, but what should be obvious, maybe not to them, is that it would actually save time actually going into the restaurant and/or coffee shop to place their order as opposed to going to the drivethru ... I'm not a "tree-hugger" by any means, but I'm definitely not stupid or inconsiderate enough to lineup in the drivethru, when the line itself extends all the way to the street, now that's just irresponsible ... I don't know what the deal is down south in the States, but up here it's just ridiculous ...
-the funeral of yet another entertainment district shooting victim was today ... now I'm not going to go on about the senselessness of it all, because that much is obvious ... what I will comment on is what is written about it in the news ... every time something like this happens, they always say the same thing, call for a complete ban on owning and/or manufacturing handguns in Canada ... For the most part you it's possible to do that from Canada's end ... however, how do you stop handguns from being illegally smuggled into Canada from the United States? ... theoretically, I could drive down to the States, purchase a handgun and conceal it in my car and bring it back up with me, I don't see any complication with that ... I mean, if I can get away with not declaring purchased merchandise from the States, there likely wouldn't be any difficulty smuggling a handgun ... again, the question is, how do you prevent that? ...
-I was reading the other day that 3 new "super-Earths" have been discovered in another solar system ... they are said to be in the "habitable zone" with respect to their star and believed to have liquid water ... I've commented on discoveries in the cosmos like this before ... when THEY shout us back, let me know ...
-mobile internet is said to be "taking off" ... man, technology is moving way too fast ... I'm sure they'll come up with some sort of mobile internet device to put onto the market, something smaller, more compact and more battery efficient, as opposed to the laptops/notebooks ...
Now for some sports:
-Tiger Woods is out for the rest of the season with a Torn ACL and stress fractures in his leg ... I'm thinkin', and he was still able to win the U.S. Open? ... Get well soon Tiger ... this definitely takes a lot of the intrigue away from the rest of the PGA season ... they say the recovery time for that kind of surgical repair is 6-8 months ... The question on my mind is, how will it affect Tiger's quest to break Jack Nicklaus' record for majors victories? ... only time will tell ...
-I guess congratulations are in order to the Boston Celtics for winning their 17th NBA Championship ... however, the Finals didn't change my perception of Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce one bit ... ever since those guys have been in the league, I don't know what it is, but there is something about both that I'm just not a fan of ... I do feel happy for Ray Allen, one of the class acts and perhaps most under-appreciated players in the league ... The one guy that I obviously feel bad for is Kobe Bryant ... I know there are a lot of you haters out there, but the guy did everything humanly possible, to keep his Lakers in it ... He's not Michael Jordan, I'm fully aware of that, but there's no excuse for his teammates, in particular: Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol not bringing it ... if the Lakers make a couple more "tweaks" to their lineup this offseason (ie. Gilbert Arenas or Ron Artest), coupled with the return of Andrew Bynum, there's no reason why they can't make a return-trip to the Finals next sesason, and perhaps win it all next year ...
-The NBA Draft is in about a week's time ... the day that Seattle hopefully lands Jerryd Bayless (if the T-Wolves don't c*ckblock), forming an explosive backcourt with Kevin Durant, and the Sonics officially becoming my new team ... A Durant-Bayless combo would be like having Tracy McGrady and Gilbert Arenas on the same team ...
-I'm pumped, Manny Pacquiao versus David Diaz in less than two weeks ... I'm not looking past Diaz by any means, I'm confident that PacMan will get by him, but I'm thinking where does Manny go after that? ... Some names that have been thrown out as possible opponents are Ricky Hatton (at 140 lbs.) or Oscar De La Hoya (at 154 lbs. and Golden Boy's retirement bout in December) ... Even though it will garner him a huge payday, I don't think Manny should take the DeLaHoya fight, I'm not sure he can carry his power up 3 weight classes ... Ricky Hatton's camp has already said they won't be fighting Pacquiao in '08, because he's contractually obligated for another fight ... So who does that leave? ... Juan Manuel Marquez is expected to fight Joel Casamayor for the WBO interim lightweight belt; while WBA, IBF, WBO lightweight champion Nate Campbell is expected to face mandatory challenger Joan Guzman ... I'd really like to see Manny take on the winner of both of those fights, in order to clean up the division and own all of the titles at lightweight ... but first-thing's-first, WBC lightweight boss, David Diaz ...
-I'll be playing a round of golf Friday night with my father, uncle and possibly my cousin ... gives me a chance to put my corrected swing into action ... my strategy going into that game is play bogey ball (which equates to a 90 score on a par 72) ... I've only played 3 games over the past two years, so I'm really looking forward to it ....
Finally, as promised my DVD review, and sorry, it's not a movie, it's The Rock's (who now strictly wants to be called by his real name Dwayne Johnson, now that he's all "Hollywood") DVD, The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment ... It's a 3-Disk Set and it chronicles The Rock's entire career, featuring his best and most memorable matches, most notably against guys like Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Mick Foley and Kurt Angle ... the DVD's are set up documentary-style, with narrated previews leading up to each match ... Finally, the set also features The Rock's best, funniest and most memorable promos/interviews ... Now, due to my limited time constraints, I only watched the narratives in between matches and the Rock's promos, I've seen all the matches before, so no need to do that at the moment ... Overall, I say the DVD set was well put together as far as content, my only complaint is that it didn't have interviews with other wrestlers ... Now if you're wondering why I did a DVD review of this one in particular ... well, for those that know me are aware that I was a wrestling fan for years ... I guess for me it's the same thing as listening to old albums/CD's ... the current state of wrestling, like music, is in the dumpster ... I guess it's just nice to be reminded of how great things were and what wrestling is missing ... I will say this though, when it comes to entertaining (in and out of the ring) there's nobody better than The Rock ...
For those of you hoping for a DVD review of an actual movie, I'll do that some time down the road, when I actually find the time to sit down and watch a movie ...
One,
- J -
-the funeral of yet another entertainment district shooting victim was today ... now I'm not going to go on about the senselessness of it all, because that much is obvious ... what I will comment on is what is written about it in the news ... every time something like this happens, they always say the same thing, call for a complete ban on owning and/or manufacturing handguns in Canada ... For the most part you it's possible to do that from Canada's end ... however, how do you stop handguns from being illegally smuggled into Canada from the United States? ... theoretically, I could drive down to the States, purchase a handgun and conceal it in my car and bring it back up with me, I don't see any complication with that ... I mean, if I can get away with not declaring purchased merchandise from the States, there likely wouldn't be any difficulty smuggling a handgun ... again, the question is, how do you prevent that? ...
-I was reading the other day that 3 new "super-Earths" have been discovered in another solar system ... they are said to be in the "habitable zone" with respect to their star and believed to have liquid water ... I've commented on discoveries in the cosmos like this before ... when THEY shout us back, let me know ...
-mobile internet is said to be "taking off" ... man, technology is moving way too fast ... I'm sure they'll come up with some sort of mobile internet device to put onto the market, something smaller, more compact and more battery efficient, as opposed to the laptops/notebooks ...
Now for some sports:
-Tiger Woods is out for the rest of the season with a Torn ACL and stress fractures in his leg ... I'm thinkin', and he was still able to win the U.S. Open? ... Get well soon Tiger ... this definitely takes a lot of the intrigue away from the rest of the PGA season ... they say the recovery time for that kind of surgical repair is 6-8 months ... The question on my mind is, how will it affect Tiger's quest to break Jack Nicklaus' record for majors victories? ... only time will tell ...
-I guess congratulations are in order to the Boston Celtics for winning their 17th NBA Championship ... however, the Finals didn't change my perception of Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce one bit ... ever since those guys have been in the league, I don't know what it is, but there is something about both that I'm just not a fan of ... I do feel happy for Ray Allen, one of the class acts and perhaps most under-appreciated players in the league ... The one guy that I obviously feel bad for is Kobe Bryant ... I know there are a lot of you haters out there, but the guy did everything humanly possible, to keep his Lakers in it ... He's not Michael Jordan, I'm fully aware of that, but there's no excuse for his teammates, in particular: Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol not bringing it ... if the Lakers make a couple more "tweaks" to their lineup this offseason (ie. Gilbert Arenas or Ron Artest), coupled with the return of Andrew Bynum, there's no reason why they can't make a return-trip to the Finals next sesason, and perhaps win it all next year ...
-The NBA Draft is in about a week's time ... the day that Seattle hopefully lands Jerryd Bayless (if the T-Wolves don't c*ckblock), forming an explosive backcourt with Kevin Durant, and the Sonics officially becoming my new team ... A Durant-Bayless combo would be like having Tracy McGrady and Gilbert Arenas on the same team ...
-I'm pumped, Manny Pacquiao versus David Diaz in less than two weeks ... I'm not looking past Diaz by any means, I'm confident that PacMan will get by him, but I'm thinking where does Manny go after that? ... Some names that have been thrown out as possible opponents are Ricky Hatton (at 140 lbs.) or Oscar De La Hoya (at 154 lbs. and Golden Boy's retirement bout in December) ... Even though it will garner him a huge payday, I don't think Manny should take the DeLaHoya fight, I'm not sure he can carry his power up 3 weight classes ... Ricky Hatton's camp has already said they won't be fighting Pacquiao in '08, because he's contractually obligated for another fight ... So who does that leave? ... Juan Manuel Marquez is expected to fight Joel Casamayor for the WBO interim lightweight belt; while WBA, IBF, WBO lightweight champion Nate Campbell is expected to face mandatory challenger Joan Guzman ... I'd really like to see Manny take on the winner of both of those fights, in order to clean up the division and own all of the titles at lightweight ... but first-thing's-first, WBC lightweight boss, David Diaz ...
-I'll be playing a round of golf Friday night with my father, uncle and possibly my cousin ... gives me a chance to put my corrected swing into action ... my strategy going into that game is play bogey ball (which equates to a 90 score on a par 72) ... I've only played 3 games over the past two years, so I'm really looking forward to it ....
Finally, as promised my DVD review, and sorry, it's not a movie, it's The Rock's (who now strictly wants to be called by his real name Dwayne Johnson, now that he's all "Hollywood") DVD, The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment ... It's a 3-Disk Set and it chronicles The Rock's entire career, featuring his best and most memorable matches, most notably against guys like Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Mick Foley and Kurt Angle ... the DVD's are set up documentary-style, with narrated previews leading up to each match ... Finally, the set also features The Rock's best, funniest and most memorable promos/interviews ... Now, due to my limited time constraints, I only watched the narratives in between matches and the Rock's promos, I've seen all the matches before, so no need to do that at the moment ... Overall, I say the DVD set was well put together as far as content, my only complaint is that it didn't have interviews with other wrestlers ... Now if you're wondering why I did a DVD review of this one in particular ... well, for those that know me are aware that I was a wrestling fan for years ... I guess for me it's the same thing as listening to old albums/CD's ... the current state of wrestling, like music, is in the dumpster ... I guess it's just nice to be reminded of how great things were and what wrestling is missing ... I will say this though, when it comes to entertaining (in and out of the ring) there's nobody better than The Rock ...
For those of you hoping for a DVD review of an actual movie, I'll do that some time down the road, when I actually find the time to sit down and watch a movie ...
One,
- J -
Monday, June 16, 2008
Father's Day; Busy Sunday on TV
-spent Father's Day with my Dad ... it was cool, just me and him ... Any chance I get to spend time with my Dad, I'm all for it, he didn't have his father when he was my age (my grandfather passed when he was 19), so I've always had the attitude that "you never know", so I try to spend as much time with him as I can and get to know him as much as I can ... First we went to a restaurant in Oakville that he frequents, the portions at this place are huge (now it doesn't compare to American portions in restaurants down south, but still huge) ... after lunch, we went over to Golf Town and tested out some equipment, in particular drivers ... Now I've already got a Callaway Big Bertha in my golf bag, but I told my Dad that when I get an income again, I'll get myself a Taylor Made Burner, it would be cool to be carrying two drivers, the more weapons I have in my bag the better, I mean I'm driving 275-290 yards in the air right now, but my problem is slicing, the Burner is a "draw" driver, so it might help ... My father's planning on getting himself a new driver as well ... After Golf Town, we decided to head over to the Driving Range to smack a few balls ... Now my Dad is very consistent, well I mean he should be considering over the past two seasons he's been playing rounds at least two times a week and he's at the driving range once a week ... But with my Fam from Phoenix coming up this summer, "The Homecoming", I'm sure there'll be at least a couple rounds of golf played, in other words I have to be ready and get my game together ... hey Zona, I know you've started playin' ball now, but you have to get into golf too ... anyhow, yesterday, my Dad was his usual consistent self ... as for me, my irons were straight and solid, as were my woods and hybrid ... Then my achilles' heel, my driver, I made a consciencious effort to correct my slice, so I modified my grip, closed my club face inwards and focused on my backswing, and after all that, I finally worked it out ... I was hitting straight for the most part and I was driving it around 300 yards ... my dad shook his head in amazement, he was like, "wow" ... I kind of winked my eye at him and said, "you guys are in trouble now", referring to him and my uncles ... overall, it was good quality time with my Dad ...
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent in front of the television ...
-I haven't been this into a golf tournament in my life ... but the U.S. Open has been amazing ... Tiger Woods is the greatest of all time, Period!, I don't know how some people can say otherwise, it's definitely a race thing, but I won't get into that now ... Great players, come up big in clutch situations ... Tiger's definitely put himself among the great athletes of all time, ie. Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali ... my Dad and myself went nuts on Tiger's birdie putt on 18 ... sure he still has the playoff today, but yesterday was simply clutch ...
Tiger's Round 3 Magic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4JI1_iUJRQ
Tiger's clutch putt on the 18th, Round 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo95mUZiAVU
-After the Open, came Game 5 of the NBA Finals ... as I predicted, the Lakers sent the series back to Boston, I'm hopeful, but I'm cautiously optimistic of their chances of taking two straight in Boston ... but I'm sayin' there would be nothing more beautiful than Kobe Bryant hitting a game winner at the buzzer, in Game 7 ... but first thing's first, Game 6, so we'll see ...
-A small aside, speaking of Tiger and Kobe, they will join "PacMan" Manny Pacquiao in an international commercial ... wow, I didn't realize how big PacMan was ... but that should be something to see, the best in each respective sport in one commercial ... Pacquiao vs. Diaz in just under two weeks! ... anyhow, back to yesterday on TV ...
-Every now and then during the game, I'd flip over to Much Music for the Much Music Video Awards ... Now that's a joke award show, if I've ever seen one ... I think that the winners are determined by which acts actually decide to show up for this cheese awards show ... The Much Music hosts kind of annoy me ... But I tuned in to catch a glimpse of my new fave girl group, Girlicious, LMFAO, :P ... I'm telling you all, Tiffanie is looking better and better every time I see her ... They seemed to be performing off of a pre-recorded audio track ... Don't get me wrong Nichole and Natalie are hot too ... Rihanna was also at the show, when I first saw her a couple years ago, I thought she was hot, but I don't know what it is, but she comes off as really cocky now, whatever ... Also at the show, Melanie C "Sporty" from the Spice Girls, boy has she really packed on a few pounds from the heyday of the "Girls" ... The JabbaWockeez were also there, they're good, but I'm just not crazy about dance acts ... The people in attendance were pretty hardcore to be standing out there all day considering the thunderstorms that passed through Toronto yesterday (for those of you that don't know, the show is held outdoors, outside of the Much Music building) ... The New Kids On The Block closed the show, as soon as I saw them hit the stage I tuned out ... All I'll say about them is that they must be in financial peril of some kind to pick now, of all times, to come back, gotta get that money playing the nostalgia card ...
One,
- J -
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent in front of the television ...
-I haven't been this into a golf tournament in my life ... but the U.S. Open has been amazing ... Tiger Woods is the greatest of all time, Period!, I don't know how some people can say otherwise, it's definitely a race thing, but I won't get into that now ... Great players, come up big in clutch situations ... Tiger's definitely put himself among the great athletes of all time, ie. Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali ... my Dad and myself went nuts on Tiger's birdie putt on 18 ... sure he still has the playoff today, but yesterday was simply clutch ...
Tiger's Round 3 Magic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4JI1_iUJRQ
Tiger's clutch putt on the 18th, Round 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo95mUZiAVU
-After the Open, came Game 5 of the NBA Finals ... as I predicted, the Lakers sent the series back to Boston, I'm hopeful, but I'm cautiously optimistic of their chances of taking two straight in Boston ... but I'm sayin' there would be nothing more beautiful than Kobe Bryant hitting a game winner at the buzzer, in Game 7 ... but first thing's first, Game 6, so we'll see ...
-A small aside, speaking of Tiger and Kobe, they will join "PacMan" Manny Pacquiao in an international commercial ... wow, I didn't realize how big PacMan was ... but that should be something to see, the best in each respective sport in one commercial ... Pacquiao vs. Diaz in just under two weeks! ... anyhow, back to yesterday on TV ...
-Every now and then during the game, I'd flip over to Much Music for the Much Music Video Awards ... Now that's a joke award show, if I've ever seen one ... I think that the winners are determined by which acts actually decide to show up for this cheese awards show ... The Much Music hosts kind of annoy me ... But I tuned in to catch a glimpse of my new fave girl group, Girlicious, LMFAO, :P ... I'm telling you all, Tiffanie is looking better and better every time I see her ... They seemed to be performing off of a pre-recorded audio track ... Don't get me wrong Nichole and Natalie are hot too ... Rihanna was also at the show, when I first saw her a couple years ago, I thought she was hot, but I don't know what it is, but she comes off as really cocky now, whatever ... Also at the show, Melanie C "Sporty" from the Spice Girls, boy has she really packed on a few pounds from the heyday of the "Girls" ... The JabbaWockeez were also there, they're good, but I'm just not crazy about dance acts ... The people in attendance were pretty hardcore to be standing out there all day considering the thunderstorms that passed through Toronto yesterday (for those of you that don't know, the show is held outdoors, outside of the Much Music building) ... The New Kids On The Block closed the show, as soon as I saw them hit the stage I tuned out ... All I'll say about them is that they must be in financial peril of some kind to pick now, of all times, to come back, gotta get that money playing the nostalgia card ...
One,
- J -
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Tiger Woods; Rockband; Expressions; Father's Day
-I sat down to watch the back nine of the U.S. Open yesterday ... I usually don't sit down and watch golf for an extended period of time, but boy I don't regret doing it last night ... not that this should be news to anyone, but Tiger Woods is simply unreal ... He was simply adding to his highlight real yesterday, with two eagle putts (on 13 and 18) and one fluke chip shot on 17 ... It's so unfair to the rest of the field on how good this guy really is ... His career isn't even done yet, and he's already the greatest of all time ... I'm sure he'll seal the deal today and make it 14 career major victories (only 4 shy of Jack Nicklaus' 18) ... I'm just wondering how many records he'll hold by the time his career is set and done ... I say, why stop at 18, why not go for 20?, or better yet, why not go for the most victories in each of the 4 major championships ... what's scary is that he'll probably do it ... most professional golfers would be satisfied with just one major, let alone 14 (ooops, it's still 13, don't want to jinx it) ...
-A couple days ago I was at The Sony Store, which is now called Sony Style ... anyone know the reason why? ... Anyhow, I was just browsing through their store when a sales associate asks if I need assistance, then I ask how much Rockband is going for ... $179.99 before taxes ... then I ask if it includes the drumset and guitar ... he said no, it's only for the game and drums ... the guitar is a separate $99.99 ... Boy do I miss having an income, I'm still stressin' over the $499.99 that I have to shell out for a PS3 ... After the inquiries, he asked if I wanted to try it out, because they had it set up ... Now I've critiqued the craze about the game since it came out, I'm the type of person that get's into something myself, not because everyone else does first ... Anyhow, I sat down an whaled on the drums, to one of Nirvana's tracks (LOL, throwback to eighth grade) ... I put the settings on easy, but it's not easy in the beginning by any means ... Now when it comes to sports games, I'm a already a master within 20 minutes, actually I consider myself a shark, but Rockband is a whole different ball game ... as for playing it, I will admit, it is as fun as everyone says ... Like I've said before, I intend on getting a PS3, but as far as Rockband goes, at over $300 for the entire set, I think I'll have to balk on that for the time being ...
-Another installment of words/expressions that J-Smooth has a beef with ... First, "Life and Death" ... It's interesting how people use that expression, life and death. As if to imply that life is the opposite of death, but birth is the opposite of death. Life ... has no opposite ... Well I can't take credit for that analysis, it's Dawson's, LMFAO, but it's so true ... O.K., here's a J-Smooth original ... the expression "forgive and forget", believe me it's one that I've heard plenty of times ... the expression is used after someone has done you wrong, and then you decide to "let it go", thus "forgive and forget" ... now the words "forgive" and "forget" are not opposites, so no problem there ... but the conjunction, "and", in between the two words, implies that they go hand-in-hand ... "forgive", it takes a big person to truly forgive another, people can say all the time that "all is forgiven", but how many of them truly and completely mean that ... as for "forget", forgetting is something like, you forgot where you put something, or you forgot an appointment ... but in the case of someone doing you wrong, if what that person did was so bad that you had to "forgive" them for it, unless you're completely retarded, or suffer from complete amnesia, there's no way that you can totally forget what they did to you ... thus, there is really no way that these two words can go hand-in-hand ... Now a practical example, my high school beef with "Harold", while we're apparently cool now, I don't think all is completely forgiven between the two of us nor do I think it ever will, and there's no way that either of us have forgotten about everything, I can't speak for him, but from my perspective I've simply let it go, but as far as "forgiving and forgetting goes", it simply doesn't apply ... I guess, "it is what it is", LOL ...
-Finally I want to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day ...
One,
- J -
-A couple days ago I was at The Sony Store, which is now called Sony Style ... anyone know the reason why? ... Anyhow, I was just browsing through their store when a sales associate asks if I need assistance, then I ask how much Rockband is going for ... $179.99 before taxes ... then I ask if it includes the drumset and guitar ... he said no, it's only for the game and drums ... the guitar is a separate $99.99 ... Boy do I miss having an income, I'm still stressin' over the $499.99 that I have to shell out for a PS3 ... After the inquiries, he asked if I wanted to try it out, because they had it set up ... Now I've critiqued the craze about the game since it came out, I'm the type of person that get's into something myself, not because everyone else does first ... Anyhow, I sat down an whaled on the drums, to one of Nirvana's tracks (LOL, throwback to eighth grade) ... I put the settings on easy, but it's not easy in the beginning by any means ... Now when it comes to sports games, I'm a already a master within 20 minutes, actually I consider myself a shark, but Rockband is a whole different ball game ... as for playing it, I will admit, it is as fun as everyone says ... Like I've said before, I intend on getting a PS3, but as far as Rockband goes, at over $300 for the entire set, I think I'll have to balk on that for the time being ...
-Another installment of words/expressions that J-Smooth has a beef with ... First, "Life and Death" ... It's interesting how people use that expression, life and death. As if to imply that life is the opposite of death, but birth is the opposite of death. Life ... has no opposite ... Well I can't take credit for that analysis, it's Dawson's, LMFAO, but it's so true ... O.K., here's a J-Smooth original ... the expression "forgive and forget", believe me it's one that I've heard plenty of times ... the expression is used after someone has done you wrong, and then you decide to "let it go", thus "forgive and forget" ... now the words "forgive" and "forget" are not opposites, so no problem there ... but the conjunction, "and", in between the two words, implies that they go hand-in-hand ... "forgive", it takes a big person to truly forgive another, people can say all the time that "all is forgiven", but how many of them truly and completely mean that ... as for "forget", forgetting is something like, you forgot where you put something, or you forgot an appointment ... but in the case of someone doing you wrong, if what that person did was so bad that you had to "forgive" them for it, unless you're completely retarded, or suffer from complete amnesia, there's no way that you can totally forget what they did to you ... thus, there is really no way that these two words can go hand-in-hand ... Now a practical example, my high school beef with "Harold", while we're apparently cool now, I don't think all is completely forgiven between the two of us nor do I think it ever will, and there's no way that either of us have forgotten about everything, I can't speak for him, but from my perspective I've simply let it go, but as far as "forgiving and forgetting goes", it simply doesn't apply ... I guess, "it is what it is", LOL ...
-Finally I want to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day ...
One,
- J -
Friday, June 13, 2008
Album Review: Usher - Here I Stand; Game 4 Collapse
-I've finally finished listening through Usher's new album Here I Stand ... All I can say is that it was a disappointment for me ... I was counting on him to come through and deliver another great album ... In my eyes, the first platinum album, is what put's an artist on the map, the second is to prove the first wasn't a fluke, the third is what gives the artist superstar status, meaning, they can go the rest of their careers putting out substandard material, because the public will continue to buy their albums regardless ... However, a fourth great album, in my opinion would place the artist in Icon status, putting them among the All-Time greats ... Usher's put out three great albums, I'm sure all the average music fans out there will purchase enough copies of his new album for it to reach platinum status as well, but this was not even close to a "great" album in my opinion ... My Way, his second album was great, Nice and Slow is still one of my "player" anthems to this day ... And considering how great that album was, his third, 8701 was 10 times better ... Then Confessions came out in '04, while not as good as 8701, was still great, he put out 3 hot tracks, his only mistake was releasing them all at the same time, thus the songs got over-exposed and played out on the radio real quick ... So when I heard Usher was coming out with a new album this year, my anticipation was high, maybe that was my mistake ... But, I mean he had four years, and he couldn't come out with something better? ... The three best tracks on this album in my opinion, were just above average, nothing that really stands out ... those tracks are: What's a Man to Do, His Mistakes and Something Special, the first two were probably the strongest lyrically on the album ... Something Special has somewhat of an old-school sound to it, with the guitar ... another track, Moving Mountains, is alright, but doesn't have that "wow" factor ... But if it wasn't Usher singing any of those four songs, I would've forgotten about them in a second ... I think I commented a few blogs back on the first released single, Love in This Club, that song is horrible, same goes for Part 2 ... I'd be lying if I said my distaste for Southern "hip hop" (Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne) didn't have something to do with it ... Apparently the fourth single that Usher plans to release is Before I Met You, but that track sucks too ... Oh yeah, Jay-Z also manages to make an appearance on the album, he sounded so out of place the same way like he did in Nas' Hip Hop Is Dead album on the track Black Republican ... man, hearing him rhyme now, is like watching Evander Holyfield fight, it's time to hang it up, seriously!, something both should've done 5 years ago, maybe more ... Anyhow, the album as a whole, no catchy hooks, sick beats or hot dance tracks ... If I had to rate this album out of 5 ... I'd probably give it a 3, but that's an inflated score because Usher is my fave R&B artist out there next to Alicia Keys, the album is more like a 2.75 ... Usher is still the king of R&B, but with this latest release, in my opinion, his crown may be up for grabs ... on the other hand, there's nobody out there that comes close, as far as male artists, Ne-Yo is the only one that even remotely measures up ... You know what, I'm starting to think, just like Hip Hop, R&B might be dead too ...
-J-Smooth has to give his two cents on Game 4 of the NBA Final ... Collapse may have been too light a word, more like spontaneous combustion ... That game is further evidence of why I'm not a fan of European players at all, they're all for some reason allergic to defense ... You can take my word for it, take it to the bank, (whatever expression), there'll never be a European player winning NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Period ... even though Sasha Vujacic takes the role of "the goat" in Game 4, Pau Gasol is as much to blame for the defensive Laker collapse in the 4th ... Gasol, committed so many stupid fouls, and couldn't keep anyone in front of him if his life depended on it ... I've never been a fan of Gasol ... And I know what you all are thinking, without Pau, the Lakers are not in the Finals ... I'd be an idiot not to concede that ... Pau's presence on the offensive end kept opposing team defenses honest on Kobe Bryant leading up to the finals ... but this is "The Big Stage", the highest level, you can't win the big one, if you can't play D ... the Celtics were ready for him, they've taken Pau out of his comfort zone the entire series up to now ... Now on to the other Euro, Sasha Vujacic ... I understand that Ray Allen is a gifted offensive player, but that last play was a "blow-by" ... hey Sasha, if you can't guard Ray straight up, just give him space ... I would rather have Ray-Ray beat me with a semi-contested jumper, than a wide open, uncontested lay-up ... And where the F*ck was the help after the blow-by?, ahhhh, the closest man to the hole, Pau Gasol, late on the help ... I'm so p*ssed right now, Vujacic and Gasol combined to cost Phil Jackson his 10th title and Kobe Bryant his career defining Finals win ... I can't leave this "No D/Euro" topic without ripping on the Toronto Raptor fans ... that's right, I just hope that you all don't start b*tching and complaining when you see your starting PG and soon-to-be second highest paid player on the team, Hose-G*y Frauderon get blown-by on a nightly basis ... I'll also make another guarantee, the Raptors will never win a championship with Frauderon as the starting Point Guard (with two exceptions: 1. the Raptors obtain one top-5 player in the league or 2. the team acquires two top-20 players in the league) ... let me put it this way, they'll never win if Frauderon is one of the top 3 players on the team ...
-Anyways, back to real ballers and legit squads ... I'm not counting out King Kobe, but it's not looking good right now ... I can see them coming back to win Game 5, but the prospect of winning 2 games in Boston (for Games 6 & 7) is a tall order, and that is a huge understatement ... Looking ahead to next year, I've been reading some rumors on the 'net about player movement ... Now a disclaimer, I'm sure these are all pure speculation ... Gilbert Arenas is expected to re-sign with the Washington Wizards, but there's talk that if a deal can't be hammered out, he would be interested in signing with the Orlando Magic or Los Angeles Lakers ... Superman & Agent Zero on the same team?, now that would be a team for me to follow, Eastern Conference supremacy wouldn't be out of the question ... now the other scenario, Kobe and Gil would be an absolute nightmare for opposing D's ... I know what you all are thinking, there's not enough ball to go around for both Bryant and Arenas, but my reply, do you honestly think the Lakers are better off with Fisher/Farmar manning the point? ... keeping with "The Lake Show", they should be a lot stronger with Andrew Bynum back in the mix next year ... Another rumor is that they are interested in bringing in Ron Artest ... I'm sure the critics will chime in and say that Artest will ruin the team ... well, I've never been a fan of his, but if anyone can reign him in, it would be Phil Jackson, I mean, he tamed Dennis Rodman, and he got Kobe and Shaq to work together for 3 championships ... Oh yeah, that Vujacic blow-by last night, never would've happened if that was Artest guarding Allen, guaranteed! ... If any of you Laker fans are worried about Artest and Kobe getting along, well after Artest's Verbal F*llatio of Kobe, I don't think that should be a problem, click the following YouTube link ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s24kx5ynRVQ
-I'm lookin' forward to the draft in two weeks ... I'm sure you all know, I'm hoping that Jerryd Bayless gets picked up by the Seattle Supersonics ... if they draft him and I'm still in Toronto for when the Sonics come to town next season, I'll definitely get tickets to that game ... I'll try to score lower bowl seats, I'm gonna be sportin' one of my University of Arizona shirts, and I'll be sure to get vocal when Jerryd schools that over-rated Frauderon ...
-Finally, I think the people behind Slam Magazine, read one of my past entries, suggesting that Chris Paul be on the cover of their next issue ... or maybe it's just coincidence, but I like my version of the story better ... I picked up my copy last night ...
One,
- J -
-J-Smooth has to give his two cents on Game 4 of the NBA Final ... Collapse may have been too light a word, more like spontaneous combustion ... That game is further evidence of why I'm not a fan of European players at all, they're all for some reason allergic to defense ... You can take my word for it, take it to the bank, (whatever expression), there'll never be a European player winning NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Period ... even though Sasha Vujacic takes the role of "the goat" in Game 4, Pau Gasol is as much to blame for the defensive Laker collapse in the 4th ... Gasol, committed so many stupid fouls, and couldn't keep anyone in front of him if his life depended on it ... I've never been a fan of Gasol ... And I know what you all are thinking, without Pau, the Lakers are not in the Finals ... I'd be an idiot not to concede that ... Pau's presence on the offensive end kept opposing team defenses honest on Kobe Bryant leading up to the finals ... but this is "The Big Stage", the highest level, you can't win the big one, if you can't play D ... the Celtics were ready for him, they've taken Pau out of his comfort zone the entire series up to now ... Now on to the other Euro, Sasha Vujacic ... I understand that Ray Allen is a gifted offensive player, but that last play was a "blow-by" ... hey Sasha, if you can't guard Ray straight up, just give him space ... I would rather have Ray-Ray beat me with a semi-contested jumper, than a wide open, uncontested lay-up ... And where the F*ck was the help after the blow-by?, ahhhh, the closest man to the hole, Pau Gasol, late on the help ... I'm so p*ssed right now, Vujacic and Gasol combined to cost Phil Jackson his 10th title and Kobe Bryant his career defining Finals win ... I can't leave this "No D/Euro" topic without ripping on the Toronto Raptor fans ... that's right, I just hope that you all don't start b*tching and complaining when you see your starting PG and soon-to-be second highest paid player on the team, Hose-G*y Frauderon get blown-by on a nightly basis ... I'll also make another guarantee, the Raptors will never win a championship with Frauderon as the starting Point Guard (with two exceptions: 1. the Raptors obtain one top-5 player in the league or 2. the team acquires two top-20 players in the league) ... let me put it this way, they'll never win if Frauderon is one of the top 3 players on the team ...
-Anyways, back to real ballers and legit squads ... I'm not counting out King Kobe, but it's not looking good right now ... I can see them coming back to win Game 5, but the prospect of winning 2 games in Boston (for Games 6 & 7) is a tall order, and that is a huge understatement ... Looking ahead to next year, I've been reading some rumors on the 'net about player movement ... Now a disclaimer, I'm sure these are all pure speculation ... Gilbert Arenas is expected to re-sign with the Washington Wizards, but there's talk that if a deal can't be hammered out, he would be interested in signing with the Orlando Magic or Los Angeles Lakers ... Superman & Agent Zero on the same team?, now that would be a team for me to follow, Eastern Conference supremacy wouldn't be out of the question ... now the other scenario, Kobe and Gil would be an absolute nightmare for opposing D's ... I know what you all are thinking, there's not enough ball to go around for both Bryant and Arenas, but my reply, do you honestly think the Lakers are better off with Fisher/Farmar manning the point? ... keeping with "The Lake Show", they should be a lot stronger with Andrew Bynum back in the mix next year ... Another rumor is that they are interested in bringing in Ron Artest ... I'm sure the critics will chime in and say that Artest will ruin the team ... well, I've never been a fan of his, but if anyone can reign him in, it would be Phil Jackson, I mean, he tamed Dennis Rodman, and he got Kobe and Shaq to work together for 3 championships ... Oh yeah, that Vujacic blow-by last night, never would've happened if that was Artest guarding Allen, guaranteed! ... If any of you Laker fans are worried about Artest and Kobe getting along, well after Artest's Verbal F*llatio of Kobe, I don't think that should be a problem, click the following YouTube link ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s24kx5ynRVQ
-I'm lookin' forward to the draft in two weeks ... I'm sure you all know, I'm hoping that Jerryd Bayless gets picked up by the Seattle Supersonics ... if they draft him and I'm still in Toronto for when the Sonics come to town next season, I'll definitely get tickets to that game ... I'll try to score lower bowl seats, I'm gonna be sportin' one of my University of Arizona shirts, and I'll be sure to get vocal when Jerryd schools that over-rated Frauderon ...
-Finally, I think the people behind Slam Magazine, read one of my past entries, suggesting that Chris Paul be on the cover of their next issue ... or maybe it's just coincidence, but I like my version of the story better ... I picked up my copy last night ...
One,
- J -
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Brief Comments/Summaries
A new format, sort of:
Saturday:
-Celebrated Sis' B-Day at a lounge, which in all honesty was more like a club
-that is the last time I go there for various reasons, among them: expenses, crowd, racism
-I'm not the biggest fan of most of my sis' group of friends, which include: a chatterbox, one who needs to read a list of "fashion don'ts", and one who is the textbook definition of an airhead
-Anthro's absence was definitely noticeable
-Thank You Prophet, Sonny's this weekend?
NBA Finals:
-barely caught any of Games 2 and 3
-The Boston Celtics blew a 24 point 4th quarter lead in Game 2, while The Los Angeles Lakers apparently survived a late Celtics-surge in Game 3
-I'm disappointed that I haven't been able to watch more of it
Elsewhere:
-I'm looking forward to my new favourite show coming out on DVD, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 1, gotta save up for that
-I've decided that I will get myself a Playstation 3, but the only question remaining is when
Upcoming Blogs:
-A CD/Album review
-A DVD review
-A Book review (as mentioned in a previous entry, I still need to pick up the book, but this one will get done)
-J-Smooth's 3rd lyrical post (it's 25-30% complete, although I had to put it down for a while, mind and time are currently occupied with other things)
One,
- J -
Saturday:
-Celebrated Sis' B-Day at a lounge, which in all honesty was more like a club
-that is the last time I go there for various reasons, among them: expenses, crowd, racism
-I'm not the biggest fan of most of my sis' group of friends, which include: a chatterbox, one who needs to read a list of "fashion don'ts", and one who is the textbook definition of an airhead
-Anthro's absence was definitely noticeable
-Thank You Prophet, Sonny's this weekend?
NBA Finals:
-barely caught any of Games 2 and 3
-The Boston Celtics blew a 24 point 4th quarter lead in Game 2, while The Los Angeles Lakers apparently survived a late Celtics-surge in Game 3
-I'm disappointed that I haven't been able to watch more of it
Elsewhere:
-I'm looking forward to my new favourite show coming out on DVD, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 1, gotta save up for that
-I've decided that I will get myself a Playstation 3, but the only question remaining is when
Upcoming Blogs:
-A CD/Album review
-A DVD review
-A Book review (as mentioned in a previous entry, I still need to pick up the book, but this one will get done)
-J-Smooth's 3rd lyrical post (it's 25-30% complete, although I had to put it down for a while, mind and time are currently occupied with other things)
One,
- J -
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Happy B-Day; Heat; YouTube
-Happy Birthday to my sis, who turns 25 today ... I know for a fact that she doesn't read my blog, so there's no need for a long birthday dedication ... but I will say that even though there have been times that we've fought and haven't got along, she's the only sibling that I have in the world, so I'll always be watchin' out for her, no matter how old we are ... I Love You MM ...
-Where the F*ck did this heat come from? ... I guess that's my cue to pack up my stuff and move down to the basement ... I do that annually, LOL ... Get this, we have air conditioning, but the geographic positioning in my room, basically renders our A/C ineffective ... I'm in the southeast corner of the upper floor (for those of you that know where I live and planning a "hit" on me, there's your inside info, LOL) ... anyhow, that takes me the furthest away from our "centralized A/C" ... What makes things worse is that I get the full effects of the sun ... If I wanted to sleep in my room during the summer months, I'd need an electric fan ... now correct me if I'm wrong, isn't that the whole point of getting A/C, to make usage of electric fans unnecessary? ... ahhh well, I have no problems with our basement since my father and myself fixed it up ...
Some YouTube vids that had me busting a gut laughing the first time I saw them:
-Some guys decide to play a prank on their friend in the library
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYD-JK1La-k
-some sick humour in Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsDbOMJOMgQ
-a clip from Just For Laughs Gags
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cm1r3d2Qw4
-a botched scare prank attempt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NijwK99OO04
-of course I had to put an old school wrestling sketch in here ... the second is the extended version of Booker T. hearing the girl's "confessional" ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFkWOT2Jwwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQjsQ7UMSJo
One,
- J -
-Where the F*ck did this heat come from? ... I guess that's my cue to pack up my stuff and move down to the basement ... I do that annually, LOL ... Get this, we have air conditioning, but the geographic positioning in my room, basically renders our A/C ineffective ... I'm in the southeast corner of the upper floor (for those of you that know where I live and planning a "hit" on me, there's your inside info, LOL) ... anyhow, that takes me the furthest away from our "centralized A/C" ... What makes things worse is that I get the full effects of the sun ... If I wanted to sleep in my room during the summer months, I'd need an electric fan ... now correct me if I'm wrong, isn't that the whole point of getting A/C, to make usage of electric fans unnecessary? ... ahhh well, I have no problems with our basement since my father and myself fixed it up ...
Some YouTube vids that had me busting a gut laughing the first time I saw them:
-Some guys decide to play a prank on their friend in the library
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYD-JK1La-k
-some sick humour in Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsDbOMJOMgQ
-a clip from Just For Laughs Gags
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cm1r3d2Qw4
-a botched scare prank attempt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NijwK99OO04
-of course I had to put an old school wrestling sketch in here ... the second is the extended version of Booker T. hearing the girl's "confessional" ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFkWOT2Jwwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQjsQ7UMSJo
One,
- J -
Thursday, June 5, 2008
solitary confinement; prayer
The above title of my blog is the plan for the next 2.5 weeks ... This is it, J-Smooth's NBA Finals, his Main Event PayPerView Championship Fight ... I have only one non-related commitment, and that's for my sis this Saturday, and I definitely don't plan on booking any more within the aforementioned time period ... just walking today, I saw a bunch of people who were celebrating something that for me should've been dealt with and taken care of years ago ... It just got my blood boiling and mind re-focused ... What boosted me even further was today, recieving notification that I had accomplished something that I never have in the past 8 years ... In 2.5 weeks, I'm confident that it all comes to an end, then I can finally move on from there ...
Elsewhere:
-Safe travels to Anthro, who's headed to the motherland ...
-For those who know J-Smooth, they know that I rarely read books for leisure ... but when I get the chance, I plan on picking up Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren ... I'll give y'all my take on the book when I get around to completing it ...
-My thoughts and prayers at the moment are with my godfather (my mother's oldest brother) in the Philippines, who is about to undergo, Triple Bypass open heart surgery in the Philippines ... he's one of my favourite people in the world, so I'm praying that God watches over him during the surgery and in the following weeks of recovery ...
for my readership, expect my entries to be sporadic over the next 2.5 weeks ...
One,
- J -
Elsewhere:
-Safe travels to Anthro, who's headed to the motherland ...
-For those who know J-Smooth, they know that I rarely read books for leisure ... but when I get the chance, I plan on picking up Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren ... I'll give y'all my take on the book when I get around to completing it ...
-My thoughts and prayers at the moment are with my godfather (my mother's oldest brother) in the Philippines, who is about to undergo, Triple Bypass open heart surgery in the Philippines ... he's one of my favourite people in the world, so I'm praying that God watches over him during the surgery and in the following weeks of recovery ...
for my readership, expect my entries to be sporadic over the next 2.5 weeks ...
One,
- J -
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Random Shots
-get this ... US showbiz magazine is offering Hollywood's badgirl Lindsay Lohan $1M to admit she's a lesbian ... hell, I'll say just about anything about myself for that sum of cash ... But just goes to show how completely mindless our society has become ...
-New Kids On The Block back together? ... just a few weeks ago I was commenting on Beverly Hills 90210's return ... seems like "retro" is a recurring theme nowadays ... I'd be lying if I said I didn't pay attention to New Kids' music back in the day, it was kind of hard not to, and I'm pretty sure I have a few of their song lyrics memorized ... What's next? Vanilla Ice? I'd personally like to see that ... too bad one half of Milli Vanilli is dead, otherwise I'd say they should try to cash in now too ...
-there's this big buzz right now about Sex in the City's new movie ... I've seen a couple of episodes, the ex coerced me into it ... all I'll say is that it really pushes boundaries like I've never seen ... what did I really expect? afterall it's HBO ... But I still didn't think the show was anything special ... only the brunette looked mildly attractive in my opinion ... hmm, must be a chick thing ...
-Can we please get some closure on this Hilary Clinton, Barrack Obama, Democrat thing finally ... Every time I'm home at the same time as my parents, all they tune into is the whole Democratic election thing on CNN ... At this point I'm ready to throw something at the TV screen ... What's even more annoying about this whole thing are the little sub-plots surrounding it ... Obama has left his church over some controversial remarks coming from there ... This may be relevant and intriguing to many, but I could give two sh*ts ...
-Man, such a delay between the last game of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals to Game One of the NBA Finals ... Channel surfing last night, I found myself catching about 2 minutes of the Stanley Cup ... Even though hockey fans consider last night's game a great game and "nailbiter", the sport has zero ability to get my adrenaline going like basketball and boxing ... I'm sure Chipy over in Vietnam is breathing a sigh of relief, with his Penguins triumphing in the face of adversity ...
-I also found myself tune into WWE Raw ... boy, time has surely passed when I didn't even recognize over half of the wrestlers on the show ... the only ones I did know at this point were Chris Jericho, John Cena and Triple H and that's the honest to God truth ... While I'm a fan of Jericho (1st ever Undisputed Champion beating The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same night; and record 8-Time Intercontinental Champion), I could care less about the other two ... Triple H married the bosses daughter to get his way to the top, while Cena is a C-Rate Rock wannabe as far as his entertaining ability, by far his greatest strength, because his wrestling ability is non-existent, and I still resent him for his re-designing of the WWE Championship belt into a "spinner" ...
-I love having a PSP, not only for games, but for watching movies as well ... I have a mini-collection (7 actually) of movies ... Among them: a couple Dave Chappelle discs, Harold and Kumar, Coach Carter, Gridiron Gang, Gone in 60 seconds and Hitch ... I just got Independence Day and American Pie both off of EBay on a combo deal, $3.99 U.S. $4 shipping ... not bad at all ... however there is one UMD movie that would complete my collection, but I can't find it anywhere, however I saw it listed a couple months ago on amazon.com, some idiot was charging over a grand for it ... the movie is Remember the Titans ... If anyone can find it ... for a reasonable price ... you will have my respect for life ...
-Finally, while I was having breakfast this morning, I tuned into Student Bodies, even though a few weeks back I said I wouldn't ... Victoria Sanchez, who plays Grace, is absolutely gorgeous ... there must be something that's encoded in J-Smooth's DNA that draws him to Latina women like a magnet ...
One,
- J -
-New Kids On The Block back together? ... just a few weeks ago I was commenting on Beverly Hills 90210's return ... seems like "retro" is a recurring theme nowadays ... I'd be lying if I said I didn't pay attention to New Kids' music back in the day, it was kind of hard not to, and I'm pretty sure I have a few of their song lyrics memorized ... What's next? Vanilla Ice? I'd personally like to see that ... too bad one half of Milli Vanilli is dead, otherwise I'd say they should try to cash in now too ...
-there's this big buzz right now about Sex in the City's new movie ... I've seen a couple of episodes, the ex coerced me into it ... all I'll say is that it really pushes boundaries like I've never seen ... what did I really expect? afterall it's HBO ... But I still didn't think the show was anything special ... only the brunette looked mildly attractive in my opinion ... hmm, must be a chick thing ...
-Can we please get some closure on this Hilary Clinton, Barrack Obama, Democrat thing finally ... Every time I'm home at the same time as my parents, all they tune into is the whole Democratic election thing on CNN ... At this point I'm ready to throw something at the TV screen ... What's even more annoying about this whole thing are the little sub-plots surrounding it ... Obama has left his church over some controversial remarks coming from there ... This may be relevant and intriguing to many, but I could give two sh*ts ...
-Man, such a delay between the last game of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals to Game One of the NBA Finals ... Channel surfing last night, I found myself catching about 2 minutes of the Stanley Cup ... Even though hockey fans consider last night's game a great game and "nailbiter", the sport has zero ability to get my adrenaline going like basketball and boxing ... I'm sure Chipy over in Vietnam is breathing a sigh of relief, with his Penguins triumphing in the face of adversity ...
-I also found myself tune into WWE Raw ... boy, time has surely passed when I didn't even recognize over half of the wrestlers on the show ... the only ones I did know at this point were Chris Jericho, John Cena and Triple H and that's the honest to God truth ... While I'm a fan of Jericho (1st ever Undisputed Champion beating The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same night; and record 8-Time Intercontinental Champion), I could care less about the other two ... Triple H married the bosses daughter to get his way to the top, while Cena is a C-Rate Rock wannabe as far as his entertaining ability, by far his greatest strength, because his wrestling ability is non-existent, and I still resent him for his re-designing of the WWE Championship belt into a "spinner" ...
-I love having a PSP, not only for games, but for watching movies as well ... I have a mini-collection (7 actually) of movies ... Among them: a couple Dave Chappelle discs, Harold and Kumar, Coach Carter, Gridiron Gang, Gone in 60 seconds and Hitch ... I just got Independence Day and American Pie both off of EBay on a combo deal, $3.99 U.S. $4 shipping ... not bad at all ... however there is one UMD movie that would complete my collection, but I can't find it anywhere, however I saw it listed a couple months ago on amazon.com, some idiot was charging over a grand for it ... the movie is Remember the Titans ... If anyone can find it ... for a reasonable price ... you will have my respect for life ...
-Finally, while I was having breakfast this morning, I tuned into Student Bodies, even though a few weeks back I said I wouldn't ... Victoria Sanchez, who plays Grace, is absolutely gorgeous ... there must be something that's encoded in J-Smooth's DNA that draws him to Latina women like a magnet ...
One,
- J -
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Recap of a Jam-Packed Saturday
-Saturday morning I slept in ... still fatigued from the previous night and from the past couple of weeks ... thus I was catching up on some sleep ... however, I was woken up by the higher powers at 11:30AM to get ready for the family picnic ... now I'm not complaining, it's been something I've been looking forward to ... considering my estranged relationship with my father's immediate family, his extended family is the closest thing I've got ... On top of that, this is probably one of maybe two opportunities I get to eat Ilocano food yearly ... Ilocanos are also Filipino for those of you that don't know, but they speak a different dialect and their "culture" is slightly different, ie. the food ... Man was the food good ... I weighed myself in the morning and by the time I got home, I put on 7 pounds, not good at all, but well worth it ... The whole thing was nice ... my relatives were genuinely asking me about how I was doing ... sure the questions came up about my dad's immediate family, but I brushed them off with one word answers ... my uncle through marriage, this French-Canadian guy, gave me an open ivitation to come visit them up in Montreal ... I think I'll take him up on the offer some time ... while I was at the picnic, I got a phone call from Anthro, who managed to coerce me to come out later that night for an "art show" ...
-by the time I got home, I had only just enough time to take a shower and get ready to head out for the night ... my running mates for the night were, of course Anthro and Prophet, but coming along this time was "Harold", who's home for his summer holidays, he's schooling out of the country ... now Harold and myself, let's see, how should I put this?, looking back on history have had a pretty turbulent relationship ... some history for my readership ... we met in 9th grade and became pretty good friends ... for a while, him, Prophet and myself were a little clique ... however, the relationship eventually soured into what turned out to be a bitter rivalry ... looking back on it now, it was over a lot of foolishness, I'm not denying my part in it, but it's all ancient history now and from my perspective we've put it all behind us ... At the same time, right now, we don't call each other on the cell phone, break bread at Thanksgiving or exchange cards at Christmas, we don't have a relationship like that, but we're both grown men now, so I guess there's just that understanding that it's all water under the bridge ... I mean we were friends initially, so anything that started out in respect can grow from there ... take Jay-Z and Nas ... finally, we both have mutual friends, so it would only make sense at this point ...
-anyways, back to last night ... we were supposed to be headed to an "art show" ... but Anthro, like always, was leading this outing, thus like always, there was a snag ... where we ended up going was this Filipino community centre in Kensington Market downtown ... And it wasn't no F'n artshow, it was a Jam ... yes, kind of like a high school jam in someone's basement ... while I was there I ran into a couple of distant cousins, Lieberman and Junior ... I've been knownin' Lieberman since we were in Kindergarten, we actually lived in the same apartment complex on Dawes Road in Toronto, then his aunt ended up marrying my uncle, thus making us distant cousins ... anyhow, last night his boy was apparently performing at this jam ... boy was this "jam" sh*t ... 5 dollar beers, 3 dollar refills if you keep your cup, LOL ... it was actually a fundraiser ... Harold was gettin' impatient and I suggested we just kick it at one of our usual hangouts ... thus we bounced ...
-On the way to the lounge, surprisingly we ran into a couple more high school alums ... "Miss TMZ" and "Miss Abelard" aka "Abelard's first lady" ... now "Miss TMZ" is a Filipino girl that I was good acquaintances with in High School, but I don't trust her at all ... the screenname TMZ should speak for itself, she's what us Filipinos and even Latinos call "chismosa" ... we ended up talking to these ladies for about a half an hour ... the last thing I'll say about that is, "Miss Abelard", yo Prophet that's all you! ...
-when we finally got to the lounge, we sat down for the first little bit, but then Anthro and myself got a bit restless, so I suggested, let's get some drinks and get to choppin' jubbies ... now our last few outings have not lived up to expectations ... but I just had a feeling that last night would be a litte different ... then what turned out to be a trend for the night, I ran into another person I knew ... this time it was none other than my sister's man, Romeo ... LOL, what are the chances? ... anyhow, he hooked Anthro and myself up and fed us with beers and a couple shots ... with the stage set, and alcohol fuel, it was game on ... we were observing the scene, and with the alcohol in our systems, the quality of women in there went up ten-fold ... Then, Anthro had his eyes fixed on the freakiest chick in the whole place, this drunk b*tch that had no idea where she was and was dancing up on everyone ... myself meanwhile, my attention was drawn to this chick that looked like that actress that plays the Filipino girl on Degrassi: The Next Generation ... Instead, of just goin' up to her like J-Smooth would've back in the day, I wasted my time debating with Prophet whether she was actually the girl from the show ... In the past few times we've gone out, whenever Prophet, Anthro and myself are conferring about women in the venues we're at, I ALWAYS say "she ain't that great", that's because I really haven't seen any ... that girl, was the first in all the times that we've been out, that I can say was great, 8.5/10 ... But I have only myself to blame, two blown opportunities: 1) when she was at the bar alone and we already made eye contact, 2) when she walked right by me and stood right next to me ... Mistakes Young J would've never made ... elsewhere, Anthro did end up trying to talk to that drunk chick, but then again, so did every other white guy in the place ... but it was good to see Anthro return to form ... Back to J-Smooth, what was funny was that the chick knew I was eyeing her, then her male friend came up to me, I thought he was going to tell me to ease off, and say that was his girl, but surprisingly he said, "dude she's available and a really sweet girl ... she's my friend so I can't do anything about it ... that's all you, go for it" ... LMFAO, dude just bought me an in, or so I thought ... because immediately after that is when I decided to make my move, but she had already made her way to the other end of the floor, when this ugly *ss tall white guy and this wack *ss black dude were already tryin to chop and dance up on her ... I ended up going to that end to try to dance with her, but it appeared that the white dude had already staked claim ... ahhh whatever, it's J's fault, I had my chance long before that ... maybe some of the effects of "ring rust" ... but as always, no excuses, simply didn't "get 'er done" ... Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was that Prophet actually got into the action ... this Asian chick was completely choppin' him ... Like I said, Prophet's actually got more game than he gives himself credit for ... he's got the knowledge, just a matter of applying it to the practical aspect of The Game ... anyways, I found out later that as soon as the chick started dancing up on him, the guys she was with immediately pulled her away ... F'n c*ckblockers! ... As the night was windin' down, Harold wanted to leave, but I negotiated for 10 more minutes, his condition, for Anthro and myself to be talkin' to some women ... so the two of us went to the upper level and did just that ... However, compared to the girl I missed, these girls were C-Rate, not even leftovers at Thanksgiving, more like scraps, LOL ... Anthro told me to go after those, so I obliged ... Anthro meanwhile was still tryin' to chop that freak ... I talked to the girls regardless, but they were with some dude that was watchin' over them like a hawk ... nothing happened, but I think it was enough for J-Smooth to silence his critics for one night ... To conclude matters, I started talking to this cougar ... she was by far the easiest play of the night, she wanted to dance with me downstairs, but we were on our way out ... she gave me her name, which at this point I don't remember, and then she said "I hope to see you around here again some time soon" ... Game over, for last night at least ... much props to "Harold" for his committment to monogamy ...
The Game's current "Power Rankings":
1) Supermanthro - re-affirmed his spot atop the leader board
2) Black Prophet +1 based on results alone, he jumps to second spot
3) J-Smooth -1 had flashes and opportunities, but failed to capitalize, thus drops one spot
-J-Smooth's comeback has started off shaky, but he's still plenty confident ...
-Finally, another thing J-Smooth would've never done before, second guess ... but I'll just refer to the J-Smooth beattitudes: (and this goes to any dude that ends the night empty handed)
1) You most likely won't find the future "Mrs." in a clubbing environment, so it's all for fun
2) You'll live to chop another day
One,
- J -
-by the time I got home, I had only just enough time to take a shower and get ready to head out for the night ... my running mates for the night were, of course Anthro and Prophet, but coming along this time was "Harold", who's home for his summer holidays, he's schooling out of the country ... now Harold and myself, let's see, how should I put this?, looking back on history have had a pretty turbulent relationship ... some history for my readership ... we met in 9th grade and became pretty good friends ... for a while, him, Prophet and myself were a little clique ... however, the relationship eventually soured into what turned out to be a bitter rivalry ... looking back on it now, it was over a lot of foolishness, I'm not denying my part in it, but it's all ancient history now and from my perspective we've put it all behind us ... At the same time, right now, we don't call each other on the cell phone, break bread at Thanksgiving or exchange cards at Christmas, we don't have a relationship like that, but we're both grown men now, so I guess there's just that understanding that it's all water under the bridge ... I mean we were friends initially, so anything that started out in respect can grow from there ... take Jay-Z and Nas ... finally, we both have mutual friends, so it would only make sense at this point ...
-anyways, back to last night ... we were supposed to be headed to an "art show" ... but Anthro, like always, was leading this outing, thus like always, there was a snag ... where we ended up going was this Filipino community centre in Kensington Market downtown ... And it wasn't no F'n artshow, it was a Jam ... yes, kind of like a high school jam in someone's basement ... while I was there I ran into a couple of distant cousins, Lieberman and Junior ... I've been knownin' Lieberman since we were in Kindergarten, we actually lived in the same apartment complex on Dawes Road in Toronto, then his aunt ended up marrying my uncle, thus making us distant cousins ... anyhow, last night his boy was apparently performing at this jam ... boy was this "jam" sh*t ... 5 dollar beers, 3 dollar refills if you keep your cup, LOL ... it was actually a fundraiser ... Harold was gettin' impatient and I suggested we just kick it at one of our usual hangouts ... thus we bounced ...
-On the way to the lounge, surprisingly we ran into a couple more high school alums ... "Miss TMZ" and "Miss Abelard" aka "Abelard's first lady" ... now "Miss TMZ" is a Filipino girl that I was good acquaintances with in High School, but I don't trust her at all ... the screenname TMZ should speak for itself, she's what us Filipinos and even Latinos call "chismosa" ... we ended up talking to these ladies for about a half an hour ... the last thing I'll say about that is, "Miss Abelard", yo Prophet that's all you! ...
-when we finally got to the lounge, we sat down for the first little bit, but then Anthro and myself got a bit restless, so I suggested, let's get some drinks and get to choppin' jubbies ... now our last few outings have not lived up to expectations ... but I just had a feeling that last night would be a litte different ... then what turned out to be a trend for the night, I ran into another person I knew ... this time it was none other than my sister's man, Romeo ... LOL, what are the chances? ... anyhow, he hooked Anthro and myself up and fed us with beers and a couple shots ... with the stage set, and alcohol fuel, it was game on ... we were observing the scene, and with the alcohol in our systems, the quality of women in there went up ten-fold ... Then, Anthro had his eyes fixed on the freakiest chick in the whole place, this drunk b*tch that had no idea where she was and was dancing up on everyone ... myself meanwhile, my attention was drawn to this chick that looked like that actress that plays the Filipino girl on Degrassi: The Next Generation ... Instead, of just goin' up to her like J-Smooth would've back in the day, I wasted my time debating with Prophet whether she was actually the girl from the show ... In the past few times we've gone out, whenever Prophet, Anthro and myself are conferring about women in the venues we're at, I ALWAYS say "she ain't that great", that's because I really haven't seen any ... that girl, was the first in all the times that we've been out, that I can say was great, 8.5/10 ... But I have only myself to blame, two blown opportunities: 1) when she was at the bar alone and we already made eye contact, 2) when she walked right by me and stood right next to me ... Mistakes Young J would've never made ... elsewhere, Anthro did end up trying to talk to that drunk chick, but then again, so did every other white guy in the place ... but it was good to see Anthro return to form ... Back to J-Smooth, what was funny was that the chick knew I was eyeing her, then her male friend came up to me, I thought he was going to tell me to ease off, and say that was his girl, but surprisingly he said, "dude she's available and a really sweet girl ... she's my friend so I can't do anything about it ... that's all you, go for it" ... LMFAO, dude just bought me an in, or so I thought ... because immediately after that is when I decided to make my move, but she had already made her way to the other end of the floor, when this ugly *ss tall white guy and this wack *ss black dude were already tryin to chop and dance up on her ... I ended up going to that end to try to dance with her, but it appeared that the white dude had already staked claim ... ahhh whatever, it's J's fault, I had my chance long before that ... maybe some of the effects of "ring rust" ... but as always, no excuses, simply didn't "get 'er done" ... Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was that Prophet actually got into the action ... this Asian chick was completely choppin' him ... Like I said, Prophet's actually got more game than he gives himself credit for ... he's got the knowledge, just a matter of applying it to the practical aspect of The Game ... anyways, I found out later that as soon as the chick started dancing up on him, the guys she was with immediately pulled her away ... F'n c*ckblockers! ... As the night was windin' down, Harold wanted to leave, but I negotiated for 10 more minutes, his condition, for Anthro and myself to be talkin' to some women ... so the two of us went to the upper level and did just that ... However, compared to the girl I missed, these girls were C-Rate, not even leftovers at Thanksgiving, more like scraps, LOL ... Anthro told me to go after those, so I obliged ... Anthro meanwhile was still tryin' to chop that freak ... I talked to the girls regardless, but they were with some dude that was watchin' over them like a hawk ... nothing happened, but I think it was enough for J-Smooth to silence his critics for one night ... To conclude matters, I started talking to this cougar ... she was by far the easiest play of the night, she wanted to dance with me downstairs, but we were on our way out ... she gave me her name, which at this point I don't remember, and then she said "I hope to see you around here again some time soon" ... Game over, for last night at least ... much props to "Harold" for his committment to monogamy ...
The Game's current "Power Rankings":
1) Supermanthro - re-affirmed his spot atop the leader board
2) Black Prophet +1 based on results alone, he jumps to second spot
3) J-Smooth -1 had flashes and opportunities, but failed to capitalize, thus drops one spot
-J-Smooth's comeback has started off shaky, but he's still plenty confident ...
-Finally, another thing J-Smooth would've never done before, second guess ... but I'll just refer to the J-Smooth beattitudes: (and this goes to any dude that ends the night empty handed)
1) You most likely won't find the future "Mrs." in a clubbing environment, so it's all for fun
2) You'll live to chop another day
One,
- J -
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