Stupid Kids, Craigslist, and more

Over the last couple days I have seen a few stories on this thing called the "choking game". Now I am thinking to myself "this can't be what I think it is", but thanks to the cleverness of America, the name says it all. In a nut shell kids are choking themselves to feel the high that comes with stopping blood flow to the brain. A few kids have already died from this and usually I would blame the parents, but that is actually impossible. If you have a teenager you have to talk to them about drugs and sex, but you feel like choking is an area you do not have to discuss with your kid since it is common sense. Next there will be a game where kids will punch each other in the face until you get punch drunk. Seriously a game that involves choking your friend how is that even a game, that is actually homicide. It is really a tragedy that kids are dying because of something this stupid. This is why the drinking age should be lowered.

So I began looking on craigslist a lot lately, and you may ask why. Is it because I need 1974 caddy in mint condition? Nope I actually go on and look at the personals because it is the only site you can go on and look at them for free without a profile. If you ever want to laugh checked out such things as "missed encounters" where people talk about where they saw someone and see if those people are as crazily obsessed as they are they will check craigslist and they can live happily ever after. I also have found out that curvy means fat and interesting means ugly.

Who gave Stephen A. his own show. I find him interesting on NBA Fastbreak, and he is a terrible reporter so he clearly deserves a show. Where is my show, I can yell for half an hour straight.

Pacers, Ron Artest and Hurricanes

As the summer league season get going there is actually an all-star playing in one of the leagues. The infamous Ron Artest is playing competitive basketball for the first time since last November when he was the main figure in the melee at Auburn Hills. Now I don't believe he should have been suspended for the season. A beer got thrown on him while trying to avoid a fight (something people seem to forget) and he said he felt threatened so he ran into the crowd. I will be the first to admit that going into the crowd is the worst move possible, but there is something people seem neglect, the fact that Detroit fans many times cross the line. Supposedly they have been on Artest all game, but not like regular fans. They were yelling racial insults and such during the game and the beer was the final straw for Artest. Also there was this big afro hack who started the whole thing in the first place. Ben Wallace started the scuffle in the first place and he got 5 games while the Pacers got over 100 games combined. But the biggest culprit, the people who escalated everything to the point where players were in serious danger, the fans. How were the fans, Detroit, and the Pistons punished for having this happen in their arena? They weren't at all. Artest has taken responsibilities for his actions, but have the fans or the Pistons, nope. But this Pacers team without one of their all-stars, and with their best player not at 100% almost beat the Pistons in the semi-finals (thanks to former Pistons coach Rick Carlisle). The Pistons are also have internal problems and the Pacers got a steal with Granger. The Pacers have great management and coaching proving that when they were at their lowest (one game suiting up 6 players) and continued to compete. People are already predicting Heat-Pistons again, but I expect the Pacers to have something to say about that.

But I am glad Artest is back on the floor. He plays with so much passion, plays on both ends (he is a shut down defender who can average 20 over a season) and has fantastic work ethic. Most players of his status would not even think about playing in a summer league with rookies and journey men but he wants to get back to where he was last year.

We are again off to a record setting hurricane season and as a northeasterner I can be amazed and not scared at the rate hurricanes and hitting North America, but with all the technologies we have isn't there any way we can stop them or be better prepared for them. Each hurricane is costing us billions of dollars and we just shrug our shoulders and start cleaning the damage up.

I was talking the other day and realized how scary this government can be. We already having a good idea that they are holding back the development of a vehicle that does not use gasoline of any kind because we do not want to piss off the oil companies because they contribute so much, but what if they are doing that for other things to. They may already have a cure for AIDS, but what if the pharmaceutical companies (who also contribute a ton of money) would not allow a cure or vaccine to come out because they make so much on the AIDS drugs. They already did that with generic drugs and drugs from Canada, is it so far fetched that they might prevent a drug like this from reaching the people. I mean they clearly do not care about the people, they only care about getting what they want done and trying to beat the other party. They don't care about the single mom who can't get to work because she can't afford gas or the sick man who cannot afford the medication he needs. As long as the companies are contributing money Congress will work for them instead of us.

NBA Free Agency

Even though I am going through a slight withdrawl from the lack of basketball on TV (the WNBA clearly does not count) but the draft and free agency are holding me over. The fun is whether the guys getting 9 or 10 million a year either because the market is weak or they had one good season are going to blossom or bust. Here are some quick thoughts as the negotiation period is underway.

I really don't think there will be many star players from this draft (Marvin Williams and Gerald Green seem to have the best chance), but there are going to be a lot of quality players. The issue I have, which I have expressed before, is the fact that toward the end of the draft there were more than a few good college players who got passed over for some overrated Euro player. Maybe the clubs picking did not want to sign anyone and knew the player they picked was going to stay in Europe. I do think a larger percentage of second round and undrafted players will make some type of impact down the road for an NBA team than most drafts. We will also look back and realize what a steal Gerald Green was at 18.

The Bucks got lucky when Redd decided to take the money and stay in Milwaukee. Whether it was purely for the money or for the team it was good to see he was going to stay and help the team become a playoff contender. What i don't understand is why they decided to then give Bobby Simmons 9 million a year to play when they already have Mason and Redd. Either they are trading Mason, going to split time between Mason and Simmons (since they can't split time with Redd), or play one of them at the 4. They clearly needed a power foward. If TJ Ford is healthy and plays like he did his rookie season they have their point guard of the future with a solid Mo Williams backing up. Bogut only needs to put up 15 and 10 and this team will compete next year. I also love the Cavs signing Larry Hughes. Joe Johnson in my mind was the best guard out there but he was made untouchable by the Suns. Hughes and Redd is a toss-up for me, but the Cavs wanted Redd since he is a good three point shooter. Hughes is a scorer who is not a great three point shooter, but is a fantastic defender and can play the point when needed. Also congratulations to Dwayne Jones. Clearly the T-Wolves see something in him to sign him to a guaranteed contract, and it also helps me out because Penn has to play SJU next year.

On the Sixer front other than the Marbury for Dalembert rumor (which ESPN has again made up a crazy rumor and got called out on it) there has been no talk on what their plans are this offseason other than re-signing Dalembert, Korver, and Willie Green. I hope they can get a shut down defender who can come off the bench (which we gave up in releasing Buckner) and a guy like Jeff McGinnis who can play both guard spots and contribute on offense.

Flag Burning and Stupid People

So about a week ago I signed onto AOL (since it is 1998) and one of the headlines read "New Constitutional Amendment on the Way?" with a picture of a guy burning the flag. Now this is what I thought exactly "Holy Shit We can't be that stupid." But again America reaches a new level of stupidity, and there is a solid chance that a new amendment will be added to the constitution to make flag burning illegal. Now i have two issues with this, why an amendment and not a law and why do we continue to try to limit rights. My biggest issue is how this administration is one by one taking away our freedoms as Americans, everything from the Patriot Act (the most obtrusive and ridiculous act ever, basically the government can walk into your home tear everything apart and cavity search you any time they want if they think your a terrorist) to trying to ban gay marriages (which is a joke why can't two people who love each other get married and live their lives together). I am not for flag burning, but if that is someone expresses themselves about their feelings about the government, isn't that is what the first amendment is there to protect? I cannot understand why we need to make laws limiting our freedoms because some crazy right wing conservative isn't comfortable with flag burning or with two men holding hands. Why can't we just let people live their lives instead of limiting how they are allowed to live their lives.

So I am driving down the shore at around 12 as my dad makes breakfast for all of our hungover house guests (thanks for including me by the way I had a great time you are all welcome back any time.) As i drive back from CVS I can see up the road about 10 blocks and realize how people don't even look as they cross the street and they get mad when people get mad when they have to stop suddenly because some jackass is so self-involved that he think the entire road should stop because he is walking across the street. I understand "Pedestrians have the right of way" but it is ridiculous to just walk in the middle of the road without looking. Also in stores people have a completely different attitude down the shore than at home. They feel since they are on vacation they need to be served first and they can't wait. Well guess what thousands of other people are also on vacation so everything is busy and you have to wait. They also have no concern for their surroundings. They will budge, push, and take anything they want because again they are on vacation. While sitting on the beach a large group will sit right on top of you and begin putting stuff in your space without even caring about the fact that someone was already there. People will also let their kids run wild, hit people with various object while playing a game that must entail third base being 6 inches away from your personal area allowing them to kick sand in your face at a constant pace. But when you say anything to their kids they get pissed because they are their kids and you shouldnt say anything to them. I'm just tired of lazy parents letting their kids run wild and then blaming someone else when something happens. If you want to keep partying then wear a condom if you can't handle kids. My biggest pet peeve is stupid people and sadly my favorite place is crawling with them.