Am I Chris Mullin's Son?

After checking out this pic from the Sonics-Warriors game the other night, I'm seriously wondering. I'm quite sure anyone that's seen my jumper would say it's a definite "no".

Washed Up Player Hoop Theater: 1986 NBA Playoffs, MJ scores 63 against the Celts

It's been almost 10 years since his Airness hung up his kicks (yes, I'm not counting the Washington Wizard experiment back in 02-03; as far as I'm concerned, that didn't happen). What's most aggravating in the time that's passed is the "MJ" comparison us fans get every time a new, talented player jumps on the scene (See: Kobe, Lebron, D-Wade, Carmelo, Durant, etc.). It was bad enough that when LBJ had that nutty game to eliminate the Pistons last spring in the Eastern Conference Finals, some said the baton had been passed.

I say watch this video and come to my side of thinking: NO ONE will ever be as great as the original "23".

Being thankful for the good things

Well, it would be fair to say that Sunday wasn't the best day ever. Not only did it rain miserably hard all day long, the Seahawks got absolutely hammered by a depleted Steelers lineup, and the effing Yankees staved off elimination thanks to Benedict Arnold. But as the family and I returned from Lummi Island yesterday afternoon, I discovered what was to be my true day ruiner.

As we pulled in the alley to park the van, I got out to move the Nissan, which had been parked outside the garage door. Walking up to the car, it looked as if a seagull had dive bombed the car: it was absolutely covered in what initially looked like berry droppings. But as I got in the vehicle, I found my contents scattered throughout in a manner of messiness that even I don't display. Someone had broken into my car.

Their mode of entry: punching a hole in the rear passenger window & opening the back door. In the end, I lost over 100 CD's going back to my high school days, a pair of Nike Air Max hoop shoes, 2 bags full of books, and my journal, which had a year's-worth of memories scribed in its pages. As for the berries, someone had gone out of their way to smear them all over the exterior, making for another annoying mess comparable to what happened a few weeks ago.

You obviously play the what-if game when crap like this happens. Why did I park in the alley instead of the well-lit street? How come I left all those items of personal and financial value sitting as prey in the Nissan? How lazy is that? Regardless, getting your car pillaged through is so violating that I almost would prefer them stealing my car and taking everything. The capper is that auto insurance doesn't cover personal property theft, and that while home owner's insurance does, the deductible for a claim is $1,000 and they will charge us a new "file claim" fee on our yearly insurance for actually seeking help. So basically I'm completely screwed, pissed, and depressed about the incident all at the same time.

I guess there is plenty to be happy about. The kids - for the most part - are healthy again. The Red Sox absolutely dismantled the Angels to advance to the ALCS. My fantasy football team - Mr. Ping Ping, named after this guy - is about to go 4-1, thanks to Tony Romo, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, & company (My roster is sick, considering I drafted 14th out of 14 teams). Oh yeah, a guy named Kevin plays for the local basketball team...I better keep my chin up. If I'm still sad, I guess this can always make me laugh:

Busy Busy Busy...

Just wanted to drop in to say I've been crazy busy the past couple of days, haven't had a lot of computer time. Nothing worse that a house full of sick people, especially when 3 of the 5 inflicted with colds are under the age of 4...ugh. I'll try to post what I started the other day after work tomorrow. Until then, here's a pic of myself with the little ones, courtesy of http://lillirei.blogspot.com:

From left: Lilli (3), Avery (20 months) & Lanie (20 months). Yes, we've gotten Lilli started on her Starbucks addiction already, even if it's in the form of vanilla steamed milk!

Hot Sauce, Stay out of Brazil

When I first started watching the And 1 Mixtape Tour on ESPN about 5 years ago, I remember finding myself perplexed by this guy called Hot Sauce. As the season went along, we found out that "Sizzle" spent every waking moment of his Atlanta existence dribbling a basketball, and on-court persona was defined by his ability to make defended look absolutely ridiculous, like these poor lads:

What confused me was two-fold: 1) How set up is the sequence of the game where he’s shaking people up? Throughout the season, the guy guarding Sauce during this part of the game was by far the least athletic player on a court filled with leapers. And 2) How would your pride allow for that to happen? Especially after he became a target and people wanted Sauce to come at them, he would do the same stupid moves, and guys kept falling for it. If you're a defender with any sense of defensive pride and a guy tried that and it was “impossible” to stop, wouldn't you deter any theatrics by getting a little physical, possibly a little forearm shiver or elbow?

Transition to Brazilian soccer, where a flair for athletic theater is evident any time the country’s pastime is involved (See: Pele, Ronaldihno, Kaka, etc.). There is apparently a young player named Kerlon who’s pretty good, and plays for the Junior National Team. He’s also got a Hot Sauce-like move that as this article states “confounds and irritates opponents by repeatedly bouncing the ball off his head to run past defenders”. Seems if you “irritate” your opponent in Brazil, this is what happens:

The Brazilians don’t play games. San Paolo better be scratched off Sauce’s hoop itinerary, doesn’t feel like his rhetoric is gonna fly down there.