Knockouts Approved

Its Memorial Day but I'm working as usual. Actually not really, I'm doing this Sunday night just to make sure to post this early. That being said, I do hope you have a great holiday. I'm not big on Memorial Day  because nothing really ever happens. I just eat my steak and drink my beer while talking to people. It's a decent holiday but nothing crazy compared to the fourth of July where people go all out. I'm just ready to watch the Heat game tonight. Many good things are coming up in the month of June so I'm just ready for it. Also trying to stay in gym longer with school not going on longer. I'm trying to get back into doing some sparring like I did last summer and to get back into fighting in real life. I love when people look at me negatively when they read my info box on my twitter account or if I talk about fighting. If you go on my twitter account (I plug it at the bottom), my information box says this.

wrote a book, die hard Falcon fan, always make snarky remarks, love fake & real violence, Music is my true love. Also I write a blog.


This isn't from strangers, these are people that I know mainly. If a stranger talks to me, they'll probably interested in what I have to talk because of my info box. They might be a Falcons fan or a UFC fan or a WWE fan or music which is great. Its just funny when women or even family members just go to me like "why do you talk about fighting so much"? This is something that I've loved for years which makes people think I'm some lunatic or bully. I want to make it clear that I love the art of the sport whether it's the physical brutality of UFC or the art of wrestling in WWE with athleticism or entertaining. I'm down to watch anything that revolves around something that will make me say wow on a consistent basis. That's why I don't watch boxing because it gets so redundant and lame. I'm not a bully at all, its just something that I love doing and watching. If that makes me a lunatic, well then your judgmental and don't know me. I think I've gotten into one legit fight in my life and that was freshman year when I was a legit lunatic. Now I've calmed down and only retaliate to things when people threaten me. It was just last Thursday when some guy was cursing at people and started to walk to my buddy Shane's car. He was screaming for a fight even though he was pretty frail in size and had that thick Long Island accent. I just went up to him and was like "calm down, what's the problem". He kept screaming "you want to go" challenging me and I wasn't really drunk at all. He's cursing out everyone and just being a complete nuisance. His two friends luckily were calming him down but he was not shutting up. He was getting close to the car even more so I eventually told him to "f*** off" and go home. His other friend apologized to me and everything went away. I've said this repeatedly and I'll always say it that nothing good happens after 2 in the morning if you are on any kind of street. You either stay in the place or house or outside the boundaries of the place. Anytime you are on a street corner, bad things usually happen. From having my glasses being taken by a drunk Polish girl, Long Island goof trying to act hard, annoying girls, and people running around, it was a  night that I just put my hand over my head and made sure not to have any outburst. I think I remember putting that in my book, maybe I should have put more morals instead of stories revolving around getting wasted. 


Anyway this blog is moved to Monday because I really want to talk about the amazing UFC 146 card. I can't wait till Wednesday and I also want to preview the Celtics Heat series. I'm not getting to anything crazy today other than that so its similar to Friday but just reaction to what happened. I gave you a nice little preview up there so that's about it in terms of my personal life. 

UFC 146 Heavyweight Explosion 

It was no contest 

I was going crazy about this card all over twitter before it started and it didn't disappoint. My predictions were pretty poor despite going 3-2 but I thought three fights were going to decision. That wasn't the case what so ever with five clean finishes which is always awesome to see. It was a terrific card and it was easily the best one I've seen in a while. I didn't go anywhere crazy to watch it since people were away for Memorial Day weekend but I caught it with my boy Kevin who came in the clutch and we were going pretty crazy for it. The card was good that some of the preliminary fights caught my interest. I'm a huge Dan Hardy fan since I got into the sport because he had the cool mohawk and always was a very vicious competitor. He's gone on a brutal losing streak that has stretched to two and half years now but he finally won beating Ludwing in a first round knockout. He went back to his strong point by using his strong left jab that hit him square in the face. It was great to see Hardy back and it looks like he'll stay in UFC are being on the chopping block of getting cut. I'm not sure where Hardy goes from here but it looks like he'll be back on September when UFC goes to the UK. The other main part of the preliminary round was Jason "Mayhem" Miller losing again and getting cut from UFC. Miller is another guy that I really enjoy mainly for his creation of the Bully Beatdown show which was awesome. He's rejoined the UFC after being a big star in Strikeforce and has been cut in less than a year. Its pretty sad but I don't blame Dana White what so ever. He was put in the main event of the Ultimate Fighter card which is still a big deal and he got dominated by Michael Bisping. The fight was so bad that he went to preliminaries and pulled some more antics which pissed off Dana. Then he lost by decision badly which was a really boring fight. Even though I really like Mayhem and his humor, I don't have sympathy for two awful fights he delivered showing poor durability and dumb antics before the fight and after the fight. It has been reported that Mayhem started something backstage which led to his cut happening quicker so I can't see how Mayhem fans have any sympathy for him. I wish him the best though, let's get to the main card.

I didn't see the first fight completely other than the end highlight but it was nice to see Struve win. He has loads of potential while Lavar Johnson never really impressed me other than looking like he's related to The Rock. Lavar got dominated from the start and has a broken arm after being favored by plenty of people. It surprised me because Struve is so lanky and can use his reach to cause problems which he did quicker than I expected. It was a nice win for him and he'll be expected to stay on main card from here on out after some debate. The next fight I didn't see live but I saw immediately when I went home because of  Stipe Miocic and the support I show for him. He's Croatian like me so that's immediately must watch but a few things came up so I missed it live. It was great to see him get this win even though he needs some improvement because his flaws showed. His defense was shaky at first and Del Rosario was tagging him with kicks. He said it didn't affect him a lot but against someone that isn't out of shape it will hurt him. Del Rosario showed some serious rust despite some strong kicks but his take down defense was an absolute joke. Miocic took him down with ease and Del Rosario had no answer to fore arms being struck right into his eye. Stipe got the win in the 2nd round on his first main card which will give him a huge boost. This will him grow and hopefully he'll add more to his arsenal because I still think the poor conditioning and rust from Del Rosario led to the knockout. Croatians won't be happy but it's my opinion. If he goes up against someone like Gabriel Gonzaga or Ben Rothwell, he'll get decimated if he doesn't defend better. The next fight was a feel good moment even though it really caught me by surprise. After being fully convinced that Roy Nelson would finally be finished, he shuts me up with a first round knockout. It was full of force and impact with the right haymaker that smashed Dave Herman in the face. At first I thought Mazzagati called it too fast, but it was clear Herman showed no attempt to defend himself falling in an Indian style fashion. Nelson picked up his first win since October which was huge for him. It saved him from possibly getting cut and earns him at least another fat. He's a huge fan favorite which gives him pull to possibly earn another possible co-main event in the future. I'm very critical of Nelson and his body but he's becoming someone that you can't hate. He's a 35 year old guy that loves living the country life style that means lots of eating and drinking. Nelson isn't a threat to main event or get a title shot so if he wants to fight and try to knock people out, I'm all for it. As for Herman he's in some trouble after losing his 2nd straight fight. He was the replacement to Gabriel Gonzaga so it was a gift he even got on the card. I'm not sure where he goes from here but this was really disappointing after being awarded this chance to win on a big stage.

The co main event was something that I was really looking into. It had two fighters that really needed a win to stake their claim back. You had Antonio Silva who was making his debut in UFC after becoming a legend in Strikeforce while Cain Velasquez was out to prove that his 64 second loss to Junior Dos Santos for the heavyweight championship was a fluke. I expected a war that would go to decision that Velasquez would win. Instead it was completely one sided with Cain absolutely destroying Silva within 10 seconds into fight. It took one slip up from Silva going for a kick and Velasquez catching him. Once Cain gets on top of you, it's very difficult to break out of the mount. He showed that against Lesnar and he proved it again on Saturday. He was using his fore arms to perfection and took his time in dissecting Silva. It was an absolute blood bath which left Silva knocked out in a pool of his own blood. It was a huge statement for Velasquez to quiet down the critics for being a possible one hit wonder. He came out with a purpose looking slimmer and wasted no time on getting on top of a serious threat like Silva. I'm very happy for Cain because this guy is the real deal being 10-1 now and I don't want people criticizing someone who's the complete package. The card was going by so fast with 3 first round finishes which is really impressive. The main event was finally here and I was really excited. Frank Mir came out to Amazing by Kayne West which got me even more rowdy for Frank. I'm not a Kayne West fan but that song is awesome and it fits Frank well. Sadly it was the only bright spot for Frank all night as he was quick work for Junior Dos Santos. My 2nd round knockout for Dos Santos was the right prediction which was nice but I was sad to see Frank lose so easily. He's a two time champion that is considered a legend by so many but to see him lose that badly was tough to watch. I loved the attempt to take Dos Santos down 10 seconds into the fight but after that it went downhill. It was great attempt but Dos Santos clearly had it scouted. It turned into a boxing match and everything went downhill. Dos Santos began to pick his spots and eventually had Mir stuttering by the end of the 1st round. The end was near after Mir was just going for leg kicks to soften him up for a take down but Dos Santos had enough and ended up quickly into the 2nd round. It was a dominant victory for a great champion like Dos Santos. The end fight interview was cool with Dos Santos bring a special guest who was 8 years old and a close friend to Dos Santos. It was a really cool moment and it showed how much class Dos Santos has. Even though I wasn't rooting for him, this guy is awesome as a human being as a competitor. He could become a dominant champion in a division that usually lacks a true dominant champion. Nobody has gone over two title defense victories in the division's history but Dos Santos could very well do it.

It was an absolute blood bath to say the least, a one sided blood bath

Overall the show was really brilliant and it will be tough to beat. I do think UFC 148 headlined by Anderson Silva versus Chael Sonnen is going to be special and it could top it but it will be tough. This show lived up to the hype of heavy hitting and huge knockouts. My MVP goes to Cain Velasquez though because I didn't expect him to look that dominant. He shocked me and looks like he's primed to go for the title again. The most disappointing fighter is close but I'm going to go with Dave Herman. Antonio Silva was a really close pick but Herman really should have done better against Roy Nelson who has looked terrible in the past few fights. He has been disappointing since joining the UFC to say the least. A few things for the future that has people buzzing other than Mayhem Miller getting cut is from the heavyweight division. I would be shocked if we don't see Cain Velasquez face Junior Dos Santos by the end of 2012. Dana White hinted at it and it seems like the ideal matchup. Nobody in the heavyweight division has really stepped up to be a legit contender and Cain looked amazing. I would like to see Fabrico Werdum get a shot eventually but he has to get through Mike Russow at UFC 147. Dos Santos vs Velasquez would be a huge main event and get people buzzing so it should happen anytime other than November because that's the month they'll have Carlos Condit versus George St.Pierre for the undisputed welterweight title. The last note from this UFC was the appearance of Brock Lesnar which was cool to see. Obviously we all know Lesnar is in the WWE now and will be with them until next April but rumors are flying around that he might make a comeback. I love Brock and will always support him but I find it a bit lame. He said he was retiring in Decenber then to come back just like that would be a bit annoying to me but people have done it before (Hey Brett Farve, how ya doing). Also Lesnar doesn't look the same like he did a few years ago when he was the champion of the division. After seeing him get decimated by Overeem and Velasquez, I don't think it would be smart for him to come back. The only thing would be cool is to see him face Frank Mir one more time to settle the score. They are tied one a piece and I think everyone would love to see who's the better man. That would be the only thing that would interest me otherwise I would have really low expectations on Lesnar returning. If he loses to Mir, then he's obviously done but if he won, then he'll prove me wrong and could do something more in the division. Its not official though so will just have to wait until next year. 

Conference Finals

Based on the whole UFC recap I just did, its clear that I didn't see any of the Game 7 showdown in Boston with the Celtics beating the 76ers like most would expect. Based on analysts like the great Bill Simmons (huge Celtics fan) and some highlights, Boston won an ugly game and the 76ers were exposed for their lack of efficient scorers. It didn't surprise me to see Boston go through but it was pretty shocking to see them shoot so poorly. The loss of Avery Bradley is going to sting even more going up against Miami. Also I'll recap Game 1 of last night's Western Conference games. Its too early to talk about the future of series or give an MVP of the series so it will be jut a recap. Just for format purposes, I would give Rajon Rondo the MVP award in that semifinal series against Philadelphia even though Kevin Garnett is right next to him. Garnett struggled a bit late in the series but he's still been a huge factor to why Boston is in the position they're in. 

Rivalry keeps on growing. 

2. Heat vs 4. Celtics-  This series would have been incredible if both teams were healthy instead it might quick again. Boston looks like a dead team after that seven game war with Philadelphia while Miami looks rejuvenated and ready to make that push to the finals. They are playing with confidence again with their captain Dwayne Wade back to playing like the top five player that he truly is. If they can get guys like Chalmers and Miller to shoot consistently then this team will be unstoppable. I do think that will see Chris Bosh at some point in this series. My prediction will be in Game 4 because he's starting drills now. It could be a stretch but it wouldn't surprise me to see him make an appearance. Even without Bosh, they will win the series no matter what. Boston has no bench right now and Ray Allen is barley hanging on. It doesn't help that Allen has to guard Dwayne Wade who is on top of his game. They might try to put Rondo on Wade but Wade can post him up and give him serious problems. Also Chalmers is starting to get more confident in driving so Allen seems like a liability everywhere on the court. For Boston to be a threat in this series, they'll need Kevin Garnett to continue his run of putting up huge numbers. They will need to exploit Miami's weakness down low although I could see Miami dropping Shane Battier back to the bench. If Miami learned anything from Game 6 is that when teams targeted Battier while playing power forward, he was a massive liability. Since Garnett isn't like David West and is a focal point of Boston's offense, he should be the guy they would look for. I think Pierce will struggle in this series though and Rondo is going to have a lot of pressure to perform. Boston gave Miami serious problems in regular season but with no Avery Bradley and a beaten up team, I don't give Boston much of a chance. This is a stretch pick because I could see it going six, but I'm going to pick Miami in five because they'll have no answer for the dynamic duo and Boston will struggle to score at times once they double team Garnett or possibly use Haslem to guard him. My original prediction was obviously Chicago and Miami playing but that ended. I'm not too concerned about this series but things could change in a heartbeat if you saw what happened last series.


1, Spurs vs 2. Thunder-  The series kicked off last night and it wasn't down to the wire but it was really impressive. After controlling the game all three quarters, Oklahoma City simply coughed up the game with awful shot selection. The moral from the game had to be how many jump shots that they take a game and how they can't rely on it all the time. They need to drive more and get inside the paint to maintain leads and get possible easy buckets. This loss has to hurt because they had the Spurs where they wanted them. Spurs outscored the Thunder by 12 in the last quarter thanks to precision passing and using their time of possession wisely. It took way too long for the Thunder to set up their offense in the 4th quarter once the intensity picked up even higher. My theory of the Thunder winning in six because of how Durant has the more favorable matchup didn't really go well tonight despite Durant having a terrific game.  Durant scored 27 points and 10 rebounds last night along with making plays all around. He's really developing into a more complete player when they need him because everyone else was struggling. Russell Westbrook was dreadful in the 2nd half and eventually stopped shooting. He went 0-6 on an occasion during the 4th quarter missing layups on drives badly and taking way too many three pointers with a man right in his face. He looked flustered and didn't seem to be confident with his shot late in the game. Serge Ibaka did a nice job defensively but he needs to make more of an impact on offensive end which was missing tonight. The one bright spot had to be the shooting of Derek Fisher who was awesome most of the night with 13 points. James Harden was struggling through out the game so Fisher had to step up and hit some rainbow like jump shots over Spurs defenders to keep their 3rd quarter streak alive. Eventually the poor shooting started to really come alive and the Spurs took over. They didn't get a lot of production out of Duncan or Parker but that's why they got Manu Ginobili. Ginobili was the different maker with 26 points on a 9-14 shooting which is very impressive. His driving skills really impressed me even against the lanky Thunder defense. He got to wherever he wanted to and broke down the Thunder defense on a consistent basis. He was uncontrollable and it was the boost they needed off the bench. Gary Meal and Tiago Splitter played well in their bench role It amazed me how the game changed so fast with the Spurs penetrating and passing out getting easy buckets rather than relying on certain guys to score on isolation plays. It was a poorly coached game by Scott Brooks and they look rattled once they lost that 11 point lead. This will sting for about a day but they'll need to get focused for Game 2 to avoid going down 2-0 which is going to be difficult. Both teams shouldn't be all impressed with their play because it seemed like certain stars were really under performing and seemed to be rushing with their shots. I'm expecting better shot selection from the Thunder and for the Spurs not to start out cold again. 

Final Word/Plugs

I've said it before but I'm going to say again and wish everyone a happy Memorial Day. I don't tend to post on holidays but with the way things set up in the sports world sometimes its needed. I'll be back either Thursday or Friday with another one covering the playoffs as usual also who knows maybe something will come up. I've done a lot of yelling in public lately, maybe I'll bring up how I should be a lawyer and beat everyone in court. I don't know but what I do know is that in nine days, I'll posting the Euro Cup 2012 preview. It will be on June 6th that it will be posted on full Euro Cup preview and predictions. Also I'm possibly going to be doing a podcast with a guy I've mentioned before from Manchester England, the man I like to call "Crazy" Joe Craven because it has a nice ring to it. If we do and I get the link, it will be posted. It will be a half hour each and we mainly only like two things in the world of sports/entertainment which is soccer and wrestling so were trying to separate both topics so you can listen to what you want to listen to. Anyway I'm already annoyed the gyms are closed so I'm about to go look around my house to see what I can work out. I'll be back by sometime later in the week, take care.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/allen.strk

Twitter: @AllenOutraged

Gmail: AStrk19@gmail.com

Old Blog: http://allen-strk.blogspot.com/

Feel free to leave a comment below or contact me on any of those links above.

Playoff Playout Part 4 (Heavyweight Hangover)

I have to plan my schedule better to post for Fridays. I'm not going to get to into last night but it was a combination of awesomeness and somebody needing to get there a** kicked. Shockingly enough, it was mostly due to women (alright not a shocker). I have plenty of morals in life and one of them is that nothing good happens after two am outside of a place. You either stay in a place or you get in the cab or car to get home. I've learned plenty of times that nothing good happens outside of bars after two in the morning such as people getting into fights, girls puking, or friends punching trees (it happened once but it'll never leave my mind). It was a really fun night and I was on a good drinking pace. We were just hanging out with girls and just drinking like one big family. Eventually things break down because there is a lot of personal animosity as usual with me and someone. So that always hurts and it just killed me how fast you can lose interest in someone. Basically I didn't get home till 4 in the morning after basically telling these girls to get out of the car five times. When you have a drunk girl next to you, you either have fun with her or tell her to go way. Most of the time when I attempt to have fun, at least four guys are behind me yelling so that doesn't work. To round this big mess up, my glasses were nearly broken, a possible lawyer blew my spot like eight times just because she had two beers, I somehow ended up having 43 dollars in my pocket after coming out with 90 bucks ( thats a record!), and I've come to the assumption that I need a girlfriend more than ever before. What a great life, thank god for sports otherwise I move to Croatia and hate things even more because that's what Croatia is about!

Anyway the agenda for today is the usual basketball. The Heat finished off Indiana making me look like a complete fool which is awesome. I rather sell my favorite team short than overhype them so its cool with me. The Celtics have sold me short and now will see a Game 7 after I thought Boston would win Game 6. Also will get into the Western Conference finals since it starts Sunday. The other main topic today will be UFC 146 which is a crazy event. This could be one of the best cards in history with all heavyweights even though it has lost some star power with Alistar Overeem not being on the card due to steroids. Thats a shame because Overeem is in another league compared to heavyweights and he would have owned that division. I'm a Frank Mir fan though so I'm all for it. Thats about it today also will bring up the Chris Jericho incident. I'm pretty heated by it because I'm a major Jericho fan and I was hoping to see him when I go to the PPV next month. If this suspension is true (it could be a work), well that really stinks. 

Playoff Playout

Lets get it started!

2. Heat vs 3. Pacers-  It was an incredible effort by Miami to win last night without Udonis Haslem. I'm aware that the Heat have two players that are playing phenomenal right now but what team can with a big man rotation of Joel Anthony, Ronny Turiaf, and Juwan Howard. Things got so bad that Eddy Curry was being mentioned to possibly play. Thankfully he didn't play and played his role of sitting on the bench to sweat. Indiana has loads of potential though to be a serious threat in the future with their talent. The tale of the series has been the third quarter performances. That tells you who's going to win between both teams and has been the difference maker. It was great to see Mike Miller play well because he's shown how old he's getting ever since signing with Miami. He hasn't lived up to that contract but if he's hitting threes that's good enough for me. He did that last night and made some nice defensive plays. Miller played a big part along with Joel Anthony and Mario Chalmers with there timely efforts on both ends. The story is obviously about the dynamic duo and they delivered like usual. Dwayne Wade is playing like he has something to prove these days and it has shown. He put 42 points in a huge effort while shooting 17 for 25. You won't see players like Kobe Bryant shooting at a level like that. LeBron did his usual 28 points and creating plays while rebounding. It was a typical game for LeBron James and its nothing new for him. With the way Wade was playing after the first three games, I never thought this would happen. Despite the gutsy performance, Miami is still in desperate need of Chris Bosh. David West had a field day going up against Shane Battier and had 24 points. West was getting to wherever he wanted on the court and Miami was at a serious disadvantage. Despite out rebounding Miami by 11, the Pacers had 20 turnovers and that played a big part in the loss. Miami feeds off turnovers and they get on the fast break like no other team. Indiana played very sloppy but at least they went to their front court players. Hibbert and West were getting the ball more than usual which is what Indiana should have done all series. It was too late and the two major stars weren't going to be stopped. Paul George has shown promise and will develop into a possible star, but this was a tough experience for him. He made some big shots but he didn't stand a chance defensively against Wade and he tends to take too many jump shots. Indiana will be back though because young guys like George and Hibbert will develop into more consistent players. Miami moves on and I'm still in awe of the last three games. They sure rubbed it in my face when I said Indiana was winning in six after Game 3. My original prediction was a sweep then my prediction before it started was five games. I can't predict anything these days, where's Rasheed Wallace?

4. Celtics vs 8. 76ers -  It somehow has gone to seven thanks to some awful shooting by Boston. It was another tough defensive game between both teams with not much scoring. It was like watching basketball on NBC in 1998 when if you scored 85 points, it would be an achievement. Boston simply didn't play efficient and made some poor decision making in the 4th quarter. The 76ers remembered who Brandon Bass is and made sure to defend him on the outside. Ray Allen looks even worse than he did last year at this time when the Heat shut him down. Rondo struggled with his shot most of the game and Garnett needed 20 shots to score 20. It was a tough night all around for Boston despite out rebounding Philadelphia by 11. It could be a case of Boston feeling drained by a team with much more youth and athleticism. Jrue Holiday had a solid game and has been the most consistent player all series for them. They have their possessions when they have nothing going for them, but Philadelphia has the case of doing just enough to win. They make the small plays with their array of talent to win the game but it doesn't mean that this is a great team. Philadelphia has caught a lot of breaks right now and could be the weakest team going into the conference finals. They don't shoot the ball well from outside and still have problems scoring in a half court set. The wins in the series by Philadelphia have been scrappy and a case of playing great defense. I give them their due but this team will get dismantled by Miami if they go through. That won't happen though because Boston doesn't lose in Game 7 in their arena ever. The place will be rowdy and a young team like Philadelphia will have serious problems. If they win, it will be a legit upset and Heat fans should rejoice at getting a team that they'll probably beat in five games. It won't happen though like I said because Boston is too good even though the loss of Avery Bradley will hurt. Boston has no bench to begin with so this hurts even more because Ray Allen starts. Boston will do just enough to win here. 

1. Spurs vs 2. Thunder-  Before I get into the series, I had to look back at my predictions before the playoffs and I had the Thunder in 5. That's not going to happen and I'm pretty ashamed of myself. I've rated the Spurs poorly all season and they continue to shove it in my face. I've given them a lot of praise like everyone should but I still feel bad. Anyway I'm not going back on my prediction on who's going to win but it will be longer. People seem to really love the Spurs and I do but they have played very flawed teams. They are going to be playing a team that doesn't have many flaws other than post scorers which is a bit overrated because I think Ibaka can be a decent scorer. Another huge factor in this series is who's going to guard Durant? I'm a fan of Kawai Leonard but can you really put a rookie on a superstar in the playoffs? I like the odds of Serge Ibaka forcing Tim Duncan into rough shooting nights over Leonard frustrating Durant. Both teams got studs at point guards even though Westbrook gets the advantage over explosiveness. Parker is more creative but Westbrook will give him problems with speed. Both teams have their ace off the bench with Ginobili and Harden, who can score ten points in two and half minutes. It will be a really fun series and it will be great to see the Spurs actually tested. Even though their depth is outstanding, the Thunder have a solid bench and they can hold their own. People are selling the Thunder short and that will come back to bite them you know where. They may take too many jump shots and struggle to get players like Ibaka involved but they are tough to beat with those kind of superstars. You can rip on the Lakers all you want, but the Lakers are a tough team to beat and they did it in five short games. This series will remind me of the classic late 90's series or the early 2000 series. I'm going to pick the Thunder in 6 games because Durant will be close to unstoppable, Westbrook is going to be a tough matchup for Parker, and the Spurs haven't been tested like this. I really like their depth but you will see players like Stephen Jackson, Gary Neal, and DeJuan Blair have a tough time. 

UFC 146

When I was sitting in a classier version of KFC at 2:30 in the morning watching people stuff their face with drunk people, I was looking into this. It was something to look forward rather than talk to girls that were too busy yelling about guys. Anyway this card is absolutely stacked with monster heavyweights and I couldn't be more excited. My favorite division is light heavyweight because of the talent but the heavyweight division is a concern right now. Brock Lesnar is gone, Alistar Overeem is likely finished, and Shane Carwin is still hurt. The heavyweight division needs star power so this is the night where possible stars could be seen. Its time for the Dave Herman's, Stipe Miocic's, and Shane Del Rosario's to become stars and be known. 

That Gonzaga guy doesn't belong there but awesome poster. 

Lavar Johnson faces Stefan Struve which is a strong start. Johnson just recently fought three weeks ago but he's such a beast that he's back at it again. Even though Johnson has a great look, he's still very sloppy at times. You may look like a beast and have a face that looks like The Rock, but that doesn't mean you have the legit skills. Stefan Struve is an absolute machine when it comes to using his fists and his submission ability is underrated. People forget that about him and it will catch Johnson off guard. They will try to have mostly a boxing match at first but eventually Struve will realize that his best bet is to make Johnson submit. Struve is coming off a nice win against Dave Herman who ironically is higher than him on the card which doesn't make much sense but they needed someone to replace Gabriel Gonzaga against Roy Nelson. I'm going with Struve in the 2nd round by submission to catch Johnson making a mistake on the ground. The next fight is a favorite of mine with a new Croatian heavyweight moving to the main card in Stipe Miocic against Shane Del Rosario. This fight really intrigues me because this is Del Rosario's first fight in over a year when he made Lavar Johnson submit. Del Rosario created some buzz when he said in a interview that he doesn't know who Miocic is. Stipe is a calm guy and didn't get too riled up. He's a focused professional that most people have great respect for well except Del Rosario apparently. He's a young up comer going up against someone that looks to rejuvenate his career. I'm pretty worried about this fight because Del Rosario is no joke and I could easily see him win in the first round. I think Miocic stretches this out though  with his striking power. He's a mystery man that hasn't really been tested on the ground so this fight will be Miocic's break through or possible down fall. I'm not sure what to expect from him but he's very disciplined and I don't see him getting knocked out. He could shock me but I'm going to be the goat here and pick against my Croatian favorite. I'm obviously pulling for him but this is a really hard test and this is his first time getting on the main card. He's going to rattled a bit and Del Rosario might pick him apart at times. Del Rosario wins via decision not in dominant fashion but in obvious fashion. The next fight is Roy Nelson vs Dave Herman which is going to be hard to watch because I'm not a fan of either guy. Herman hasn't been in UFC for too long while Nelson is just a good laugh to watch these days. I wish Fabrico Werdum was on the card but they couldn't do Nelson vs Werdum again because that would be slaughter. Nelson has lost three out of his last four fights and really needs a win here to maintain his spot in UFC. I know people love him, but it's getting to the point where he's only fun to watch to see how much his jaw can take. Nelson's jaw is considered unbreakable with Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir not being able to knock him out even though they easily took the decision. I personally think that Nelson is finished and Herman will take this fight. I don't know much of Herman but he's very skilled in both punching and kicking which is a huge asset against a guy with such a wide frame in Nelson. I'm going with Herman to win via decision because Nelson doesn't get knocked out.

Now its time to get to the fights that make the PPV really special. Cain Velasquez faces Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva with possible number one contender possibilities from this fight for the title. This is the debut of Silva in the UFC after fighting in strike force all these years. Silva is known for literally beating you down to a bloody mess with relentless striking ability. He's very dominant including beating one of the greatest of all time in Fedor Emelenikeno. I'm very excited to see him finally join UFC because he could be a star that the heavyweight division needs. He could be someone that people can believe could be a champion. Then you have Cain Velasquez who seems very determined to shake off losing the belt to Junior Dos Santos in quick fashion. Velasquez has been pretty quiet over the past few months and it will be very interesting to see how he has recovered from that loss. With all the news about Lesnar jumping to WWE, Overeem getting suspended, and Dos Santos being champion. People have forgotten about Cain Velasquez who was the poster boy about a year ago. He was on top of the world after destroying Brock Lesnar. Both guys have something to prove which will make this fight even better than its shown on the card. I'm really torn on this one and it's really a toss up but I'm going for Velasquez. I think Silva will have success in the UFC even at age 32 but he's going to have problems with Cain's quickness. People underrate how quick Cain can be and how athletic he is for someone that's as big as him. I'm going to go with another decision victory which sounds lame but these two are so closet that I can't see a knockout. Silva could win though because Velasquez is now getting questions for having a weak jaw so I'm not too sure if he can last three rounds. Nothing will surprise me in this one other than being boring which probably won't happen but I'm going with Velasquez winning a war. 

The main event is finally here with Frank Mir facing Junior Dos Santos. I'm a fan of both guys with their great styles and their intelligence in interviews but I'm becoming a huge Mir fan. I used to hate him for some odd reason probably because he knocked Mirko Cro Cop to obscurity which is stupid on my part. I'm older now and wiser which helps when talking about sports. It's a shame that people don't develop like me and say stupid things like "MMA is stupid, it's like gay porn going on top of each other". People these days, don't have a clue what they're talking about. Anyway back to the fight, which I don't think will last long. I love Frank Mir and think he's one of the greatest heavyweights in history with his amazing submission ability and his striking. The guy is the complete package but he's older now and he's going up against someone that is lethal in Junior Dos Santos. This guy has scary knock out power and can beat you to a pulp which is going to happen. I don't give Mir much of a chance here even though you never know if he can lock in an arm bar or hit a huge knee on Dos Santos. Dos Santos is just too imposing and that will lead to a 2nd round knockout which could be a bit too generous. This reminds me of a Jon Jones fight against a very good veteran but not an elite fighter anymore. Mir has declined with his age even though his kamora against Big Nog still blows my mind. Dos Santos wins with a knockout in the 2nd round and he'll remain champion. I'm not sure if Mir will retire after this but I really hope not. He has so much pride and I don't want him going out like that. He's going to have to try to take down Dos Santos which will be difficult because of how imposing Dos Santos can be and his quickness. It will likely turn into striking and Dos Santos wins no contest in that category. This should be an incredible PPV that has must watch implications so I won't be missing it. Thank god the Heat won last night, so I wouldn't miss the beginning.

Jericho/ Final Word/Plugs

I don't want to do a huge thing on it because I got plans and need to get going but Chris Jericho is a hero to me and I want to discuss it briefly. Jericho has recently been suspended indefinitely for stomping on a flag in Brazil. This was during his match with CM Punk on an international tour. Now people know wrestling is scripted and the villains (heels) try to get heat from the crowd with their actions. Jericho stomped on the flag to get his boos and the whole usual thing. Apparently thats illegal and he was close to getting arrested. He apologized like the classy man that he is because apparently Brazil thinks this is all real. Jericho gets out of going to prison but they get him out of the country immediately and now he's suspended. Now I don't know if this is legit or just a work (fake) but this is absolutely ridiculous. Jericho is a 22 year veteran and you're going to suspend him for this. House shows or international tours whatever you want to call it is known for doing funny stuff like this. JBL did a Nazi salute on the apron on a tour in a 2004 and what did that get him? He got an 8 month title reign not a suspension and it was pretty funny. Shawn Michaels crumpled a Canadian flag and wiped it with his balls in 2005 on national television and nothing happened. CM Punk just last year called someone a homo in Australia and nothing happened. Now we punish someone like Jericho who's one of the greatest of all time? If this is legit going to happen, then this makes me sick and I'll be even more heated. I'm going to two shows in June for No Way Out then Raw the next night. I've never seen Jericho live and if he's not appearing, I'll make sure to be rowdy as possible and create problems because I can't stand people who don't realize that this is an act and Jericho had no idea it was illegal. I'm not going to ramble on any longer about this but just realize that this is entertainment where their good guys and bad guys. Jericho is a bad guy and wants you to hate him yet were going to possibly attack him for trying to be a great character? Wrestling is weird yet I love this stuff.  I'm just looking for some justification and logic here which is a problem for WWE sometimes. Until then whoever made the suspension and whoever would attack this man is something that you will see below this paragraph.

2003 Jericho is always approved!

That's all for today because I need to go check out the friendly for Croatia versus Estonia. Euro Cup is coming pretty fast and its almost time for big tournament. My full Euro Cup preview will be up a few days before June 8th, not sure about the date but I'll keep you posted. I'll be back for Memorial Day because I want to preview the Heat series against the Celtics or 76ers. Also I want to recap UFC 146 so Monday their will be a new edition coming out. Despite not having school anymore, I'm sticking to two editions a week so I'm not sure how schedule will be like next week. Until then enjoy your day and I'll be back Monday.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/allen.strk

Twitter: @AllenOutraged

Gmail: AStrk19@gmail.com

Old Blog: http://allen-strk.blogspot.com/

Feel free to leave a comment below or contact me on any of those links above.

One Year Anniversary Extravaganza

I'm back after a pretty long lay off wait not really. I've been studying my a** off the past four days for finals and now I'm finally finished. I'm free of the long travels and stressful studying. I can take a deep breath, drink a beer, and love life for the most part. I'll still be working everywhere from my job, to the gym, to the blog, and to whatever else. Working never ends, you just keep on pushing to improve and hope to get recognized. That's my code of honor, I'm sure people would agree with me. With finals over, I'm still busy but I'll post even more if possible. I think my supply of work has been pretty long so far but I might add some more. I'm happy with the format that it's mostly just columns of main topics and not just random things. This is a sports blog most of the time although things can get pop culture filled at times. I'm not here just to report daily days, this is long thought out subjects which is far more exciting and fun.

I don't want to get into a huge recap about it so I'll leave it for the beginning. I'm not trying to bury soccer by doing this shortly because I'm not. I love the sport but I'm still very disappointed with the Bayern Munich loss. I understand how Chelsea put a wall behind their net with so many defenders but how they couldn't win was ridiculous. The main stars didn't show up from Arjen Robben to Frank Ribery which was very disappointing. I was shocked to see Ivica Olic make an appearance but less shock at him missing an easy game winner and missing a penalty in the shut out. Bayern has to be devastated because this was their year with the odds heavily stacked in their favor. Chelsea was clearly overmatched but snuck out with the win which means Chelsea will get a Champions League spot next year. That means my beloved Tottenham Hotspur will miss out and likely lose some stars. Luka Modric is all but gone because he's too good to miss another Champions League. Gareth Bale wouldn't surprise me if he decided to leave which he should because he belongs in Champions League. Spurs might possibly implode with their stars leaving but with the money they'll bring in, they might remain respectable. Its still a sad day as a Spurs fan because having a Croatian on the team was great. I highly doubt Vedran Corluka returns to Spurs after a productive spell at Bayer Leverkusen and Niko Kranjcar's time has run up in Spurs. Modric looks to be next which leads to a Croatian-less Spurs team for the first time since 2008. The player that won man of the match had to be Ashley Cole. He made Arjen Robben look worthless with his marking and really looked spot on. People give Cole some grief because he's not very emotional and has ripped on English people in the past but he's shown how great he can be. I'm a huge Leighton Baines fan and he's easily one of the best left backs in the world but Cole will keep that England spot at left back in the Euro Cup. I'll do a full Euro Cup preview on June 6th that will be up with predictions, awards, and other fun information. So soccer fans stay tuned for that, it should be great.

I'm sad to say that this bum is a Croatian. Ivica Olic disappointing Croatians since 2008.

This is a pretty special edition today because it's the one year anniversary of my auto biography on my high school life. This book was written about my freshman year from 2007 to senior year which ended in 2011. I'm proud of myself for finishing it because it showed my determination as a writer and it got lot of great reviews. People were impressed my story telling and how epic some of my stories were. It makes me feel blessed on the crazy life that I experienced in high school and still experience now. Of course you have a few haters out there since my book was pretty edgy and it got people's attention. I'll admit that I went over the line a bit with some people's personal background but if you rubbed me the wrong way or made me miserable well I didn't hide it. It was brought up if it left a major impact on my life which still annoyed me. I'm not going to brag how I got some threats yet nobody laid a finger on me. I'm not looking for negative publicity or attention with drama because its immature and I'm too old for that. I'm not afraid from it though if someone wants to challenge me because I don't back down. I admitted to the people that I offended that some of it got too personal which I apologized for but don't try to become a hot shot about it. I'm very happy with my work and I lost maybe two friends out of it that I was going to break off from anyway. If you're going to deny the truth or the past or my personal belief about our friendship or relationship well then that's not my problem. People need to respect my opinion sometimes either that or explain to me about their true feelings towards me. Otherwise you leave me no choice so that's my moral lesson here. I'm also going to talk the usual NBA playoffs which has gone fast so far with the Western Conference semifinals already over and the Heat resurrecting from the dead.

The Life Of A Teenage Enigma 

207 pages of awesomeness.

I'm pretty excited to do this because I don't think everyone that I know and love haven't heard like the whole reason for this and story to making it. I remember going into 2011 with a chip on my shoulder and trying to do something. I've been doing work around a few blog sites doing some reviews of Falcons football, wrestling, and some soccer but it wasn't anything major. I wanted to do a huge project because my senior year was a joke and I had nothing to really do. I would have season tickets to see St.John's pull off an amazing year of basketball and drink beer. It was a fun lifestyle but I always want to be productive. I had my job at the library and consistently worked out so it wasn't like I was doing nothing. It was just time for me to do something that would make me work hard and to do something. I was thinking about what's something that I'm good at and would interest people in checking out. I've always wanted to write and work in a big company as a journalist along with the fact that I have so many crazy stories. I'm a storyteller to people and they always want to hear me well at least most people. A few people tell me to shut up and call me the biggest piece of s*** they ever met (how nice!). I decided to start working on this in early March although it didn't really take off till after my birthday weekend in early April. With March Madness going on, I got pretty caught up in that. It took around Easter vacation when I was seriously putting in four to five hours a day. If I wasn't working or in the gym on weekdays, it was on my computer. It was really nice not to have any work senior year because if I have school work it wouldn't have been done. It took around three months to fully complete so let's get into it. I'm going to do the years by each paragraph.

My freshman year was the absolute worst and I had some people say that it was really lame and dark at the beginning. The reason for that was because that was my life freshman year. If their was anything to describe me as freshman year other than wannabe tough guy was dark or lame. It was a really tough time for me as a person because I didn't care about much. It was just a year of being miserable after December with me failing so many subjects and starting to smoke a lot. I'm not going to say addicted because I really wasn't and few of my pothead friends would probably be offended if I told them how much I would smoke. I'm not going to say addicted but it was more than enough to have an effect on me of not caring about anything. Eventually I woke up when I lost a lot of my childhood friends which was about my 15th birthday. Nobody really wished me birthday and it was a really bad time for me. Eventually I won them over by apologizing and hanging out again for a bit. I stopped hating the world and started liking people again is to put a blunt. I stopped with all the rapping and dissing women which was so lame. If you would have seen my notebook freshman year, you would have thought I'm the biggest loser ever. I'm not going to go on a tangent about being miserable because its never enjoyable. I got past it by simply seeing friends again that would actually want to do things and not jut sit around smoking weed. Things started to improve when I realized I needed to start doing better in school so my family wouldn't be so down on me. The summer of 2008 is how I would phrase it was pretty fun. I was grounded due to going to summer school which was right looking back on it. My dad punished the hell out of me and made my life miserable but he would always go to bed around 9 at night so I'd sneak out to see friends. I did a lot but not every night because my mom even being the sweetheart she is would have boundaries. It was a pretty weird time but I got away with it without telling anyone. Nobody ever questioned me on why I'm hanging out so late either and I never wanted to bring up being grounded. I just went along with it but now I'm not really hiding anything so there you go. I would sneak out just to see people in the summer because a summer locked in the house is tortuous. The summer was decent with some nights but I never really got into the drinking just yet. I smoked at times but overall I was just learning to recover from an awful year.

The sophomore year of high school was a complete blast compared to 2008. I was on second honors most of the year because I knew how to take school seriously and it was just so much craziness. I would be talking to girls constantly and my sports teams were doing great. If you sat down with me to talk about the Falcons 2008-2009 team, you would tell me to shut up after ten minutes. It was a pretty epic year also with the Heat making the playoffs after stinking for a few years. It was just great to finally be able to walk like I wasn't absolute trash which may sound silly. My family would praise me for my hard work and I was getting showered with some pretty big rewards. I'll never forget that Christmas where I literally got an IPOD, an xbox 360, and a new TV in my room. It made me feel rich for the first and only time in my life. I felt like I deserved it but eventually it was like I didn't want to turn into those rich snobby kids. You see those kids on MTV on the sweet sixteen shows and I'm thinking like there so lame. It was a pretty fun time for most of the year and I eventually got with the drinking program. I'll admit I started out as a major lightweight struggling to drink six coors lights sometimes. It was awful in taste but Coors Light is like water. Most of my friends were lightweights well except Kevin who has to get a shout out because he drank like a man at age 15 (I miss him very much). It was also a mostly a non-drama year with my only drama telling my mat teacher that I didn't care what she had to say. With her grouchy voice, I'll never forget the echo of her voice and my facial expression like I was about to die. It was Mrs.Fincher by the way for my Cross guys, I know some of you got a heart on for her. She's cool and I'll admit she was a bit of a turn on but that voice makes me want to leave the room sometimes. What made this year so memorable had to be the summer because that's when full drinking mode was in affect. It was the rebel lifestyle of drinking in parks and jumping in pools at midnight. I didn't have to sneak out anymore and it was just living the good life. I'd work two days a week with my dad even if I was hungover even though he never found out. It was an awesome summer minus some drama with a girl I really liked. I'm not going to mention names of people that hate me because my life is at peace. It sounds lame but we don't get along anymore and she's just a flat out b****. Anyway that was my only drama since I really liked her and she didn't see me that way. Then she hooked up with a guy while my grandpa died (double punch in the face). That was the only rough part other than the drama was my grandparents dying in a matter of two months. My mom was going through such rough moments that I was there to always support. It hurt my summer a little bit but the nights of belly flopping in the pool and drinking was just a blast. I miss the days of not needing any money and getting to act like a maniac. I could write a book that's called "I miss being 16" because it was that awesome. I took advantage of my last summer without work or drama or any of that annoying stuff. 

Now we get to junior year which was a very frustrating year. It was just everything with school being really hard with the workload a junior gets. My teams had disappointing seasons after looking so promising. My social life was still going well with all my friend intact and making even more new friends but the drama was killing me a bit. I'm trying not to put an individual into a whole big thing here but she has to be mentioned. Her name was Samantha and you probably know who I'm talking about already because she was so important in my life. You always get that one high school girl that you'll always depend on and you love so dearly. I had so many crushes but she never seemed to get away in my head. She was becoming like everything to me yet I feared putting everything on the line. If only I had the mindset that I have know when it was early 2010. We were still close and we were like best friends that would talk all the time. She always just wanted to be friends and never really was into me that way. It was that great case of "friends" that just eats inside of guys especially me. She was perfect for me and we got along so well but eventually I just kept being more annoying. I'd go for her for advice and eventually I pushed her one day when my mom got laid off and she snapped at me. Then everything fell apart and it was just so depressing. I wasn't that depressed at first because my cousin had her baby and things were still going good for me in school. i was just working hard and hanging out with my new baby cousin. Eventually it was hurting me a bit and I would try talking to her but she wouldn't budge. She wouldn't give me the answer to why she couldn't stand me and it killed me. Summer 2010 was really lame for the most part even though my dad went away for few weeks. When my dad isn't home, I'm basically running the show and everything is free. My mom is awesome and I'll always listen to her but usually I can do whatever I please. My dad is the strict one that doesn't allow much in terms of having people over. It was great with him gone but that summer was so bad. The parties were lame and my friends were starting to get a reputation as "reckless at parties that cause fights and incidents" even though I always stayed away. I've learned my lesson a few times of being reckless especially at my friend's Donna sweet sixteen. That's a long story that is too long to get into but I basically should have been in a hospital that night but somehow landed home and recovered. If you read my actual book, it would blow your mind. That summer went by fast with not much going and being jobless which stunk. I was just waiting for football season to start and other things to begin because things were so lame. I wasn't really into any girls and it was hard to see certain girls because the ones I'm friends with are so spaced out. I'd always wondered if I put them in a room, you would hear like fights everywhere because their was someone out of the group that didn't like another. I could only dream though but to end this year off, it was frustrating despite a few good moments. I wasn't grounded or anything but I was pretty down on some things. The whole Samantha incident killed me and we eventually talked face to face. When that happened, we went back and forth. My ego was pretty big at the time for no apparent reason but it was just like I've been waiting for this. I completely failed and she basically said I lost her trust. It sucked so bad then things got even more heated. She was like whispering in someone's ear and I see everything shady around me so I wasn't leaving like this. I played her game and whispered in her ear that she was pathetic which looking back on wasn't smart but that's pretty bad***.  We got into a whole fight and everything just ended outside of Oasis. The Greeks always play a role in hurting my life in some way.

Senior year finally begun and it didn't start off all that great. It was the same dull life where people didn't want my friends at parties and I didn't know that many people anymore. It wasn't until 2011 when I got to know so many people. I'll do my shout outs after but basically I was still stuck with the same guys on weekends. It got really lame and things were dull. The cool things going on had to be my Falcons going 13-3 and I'm a football nerd so I'm mentioning it. It was an awesome season and I just remember watching them win game by game. Then as a Heat fan, I got to witness LeBron James and Chris Bosh join the heat which was crazy. That was ironically one of the my only highlights in 2010, which is pathetic. Anyway eventually senior year was getting good around New Years when I was re uniting with people at this New Year's party. I got to know people like Nick Zav and Mike Goglia that I've been friends with but I became really cool with. That's when things changed when I actually started to talk to different people and then got to do things on weekend. Then St.John's started to play great and I'm a seasons ticket holder thanks to my awesome uncle, so going to the Garden and see them beat top 25 teams in the country was incredible. They were beating Georgetown, Duke, Pittsburgh, and UConn where I sat in the 8th row every game. It was in the students section too so I got rowdy and even made some appearances on CBS. My face book wall blew up with comments about how they saw me yelling on TV which is hilarious. It was really memorable to go to those games because they were such an underdog and it was the only New York team that I truly loved. 

Then I had my job and I was making some decent money for a 17 year old kid. The only rough part about senior year was probably my SAT's which stunk because I was awful at standardized tests. It was just a lack of being focus so I had no one to blame but myself when I couldn't get into a decent college. It hurt for a week or so but I had to accept reality. Senior year continued to get going and eventually I started getting into bars. A few places allowed you in if you were 18 and we were rolling. A few places like Brefines Pub (aka sleezys to my friends reading this) and Fillmores which is my personal favorite place because their wasn't a time there that I didn't have fun. Senior year was a complete blast and I'm so happy that I made the best of it because their wasn't going to be another year like that again with absolutely no workload. The year was a breeze and I made the most of it with everything. I got to see my favorite band live in Three Days Grace in mid April which was a really cool moment. Samantha and I became friends again after I literally mailed her a four page letter. I literally went to her house and put it in her mail box. It wasn't a matter of missing her but it was something that I had to get off my chest. I was maturing and had to confess a lot of things because if I didn't make things right, it was going to haunt me for the rest of my life. It took about two months to see her face to face again after writing that letter and it was pretty wild. It was just me, Samantha, and my two buddies Paul and Anthony (major shout out to them, those are my boys). We were just a restaurant and I barley said a word until I said these exact words "alright I didn't come here to f*** around, I'm here for personal business (what a promo!). We talked for about an hour and we eventually became cool again. That's all I really wanted just to know that we don't have any hatred between us. I celebrated with a Guinness that night because my memory is insane and I remember things like that. That just completed my awesome senior year then I started writing my book a few weeks later. Samantha and I became legit friends a few months later before she moved to Staten Island which sucked because I haven't seen her in almost a year). 

That's how basically the book went and then I started sending it out to people. I've calculated the link and actual copies that I've given out and it was 487. Do I think that 487 read the whole thing? I'm positive that they didn't but it was cool for them just to take the time to check it out. I know people that read the whole thing and would e-mail me their thoughts chapter to chapter. It was pretty cool like people would complain "you talk to much Croatian soccer" or "I'm sick of these wrestling references". In the end, most people enjoyed it and they were telling me that they were laughing so hard. The best thing I've heard from people that read it was from two guys named Danny Olivo and Joe Addamo. I don't see them a lot anymore but they were always cool guys. One day we were just eating lunch and they told me at their prom after party that they read my book. It was four in the morning and they skipped to the fun chapters and read the stories. They were laughing so hard about all the stories of drinking in forests and making beer runs. That was the funniest thing I've heard and it made me feel like "wow I can make people read my book at a damn after prom". I like to thank everyone who read it because it took three months to fully complete it. The only thing that I felt bad was getting a bit too personal about information of a few girls. I brought up some topics that shouldn't have been brought up and I've apologized to them. Most of the girls understood what I did and they respected my work for the most part even if I went overboard. I ripped a few girls because they either rubbed me the wrong way or made my life miserable. I don't feel bad for that but giving out some personal information from them that I know was pretty stupid. Other than that, I'm happy with my work and its still the coolest thing I've done. Could we see another book coming out in the future? I would say it's a good bet because I got more stories to tell and people really enjoyed it. My Facebook wall was getting pretty loaded with comments and my phone was blowing up for a few days. The end of May going into early June was really cool talking to people about it and it made me feel accomplished. If i could make an estimate about a possible new book, it could be the summer of 2013. I'm not saying it's a definite but it could happen. I'll keep you updated as always, thank you for caring. 

A few shout outs to people are obviously all my family, don't really need to get into names. My main friends through the book like Paul, Anthony, Joe, Kevin Campbell, and Frank really stood out to me. A few other guys that were my boys in high school had to be guys like Kevin Durkan, Nick A (damn Greeks and their last names), John A, Mike Goglia, Alex Z. I don't stay in contact with a lot of girls these days because of school and things so the list won't be long. Obviously Samantha will always be someone I care about in my life and I'll always love. I got a few other girls like Donna, Antoniette, and Karen who are girls that I give some love to in the book and still to this day. That's all that really sticks out to me, don't be offended if I forgot you. This is only from the book and obviously I made a lot of friends during this year. You know who you are is my lame way of putting, please don't beat me over it. At least its better than I love everyone because that's totally false. Some girls I absolutely hate these days that I mentioned so yeah it's not all hearts and roses when it comes to that. This was fun to recap and I hope for those that haven't read it, that you get interested and want to check it out. If you already read it, well I hope you enjoyed the mini recap. 

Conference Semifinals 

The playoffs seem to be flying by but thats mainly because of the Western conference series. I remember listening to Bill Simmons, who is like a hero to me. If I met Bill, I'd probably be in complete awe and praise him like crazy. Simmons said on his podcast that the Western conference semifinals will blow away the Eastern conference semifinals in terms of game quality and excitement with Thunder- Lakers and Clippers- Spurs series. That didn't turn out that well with a clean sweep by Spurs and Thunder wining in five. The Eastern conference has both series at least going to six games which is enjoyable. Let's break it down. Also I want to indicate that I'm not doing a Spurs vs Thunder series preview until Friday because the series doesn't start till Sunday. These reviews are longer because it has been a while since I covered games. NBA has ran a few back to back games especially on the West Coast so there is plenty to cover.

This looks so wrong on so many levels. Why Fish why?

1. Spurs vs 5. Clippers-  My original prediction was five at the start of the playoffs but it changed to sweep before the round begin. The Clippers just couldn't handle the all around play of the Spurs. I didn't get to catch much of these games due to the Champions League final and Over The Limit but I got to see the 4th quarter of each game. The series looked officially over after the Spurs went on a 24-0 run to erase a 20 point lead from the Clippers in Game 3. With Tony Parker being the catalyst that he's been all season with 23 points and 10 assists, the Spurs proved to be too much. They started to double team Blake Griffin after Griffin started out on fire early on dominating the paint. They started to surround and challenged the role players. That proved to be effective with guys like Caron Butler, Randy Foye, and DeAndre Jordan proving to be non factors again. Chris Paul was frustrated once again and went 5-17 in another tough outing for him. The Spurs know how to defend you all across the court with their scheme and make sure that Paul won't get any clean looks. They did get a spark from Mo Williams who had a nice Game 3 off the bench with 19 points but they never gave Blake Griffin enough support. They went on a major cold streak while Parker was finding guys like Leonard and Green open to hit big shots. Leonard was very efficient going 5 for 7 with 14 points showing that he's the future for the Spurs. Despite Blake Griffin's big game, Tim Duncan was right on par shooting 8-16 with 19 points and 13 rebounds in a big game. Duncan was just as good as Griffin with his crafty style and fundamental foot work in the low post. The Clippers look deflated after losing by ten in Game 3 but they didn't lay down in Game 4. Chris Paul finally had a huge game shooting 9-18 with 23 points and 11 assists. The game was very even for the most part with the Spurs being more careless than usual while the Clippers continued to get their role players involved. It was just another case of who can bring it off the bench with no sort of mindset of wondering how long they should play someone like Eric Bledsoe who scored 17 points off the bench. It looked at times like the Clippers wouldn't go down with a sweep but eventually the Spurs turned it up even without Manu Ginobili being all that effective. They were led by dynamic duo of Tim Duncan and Tony Parker along with a really good performance from the Spurs bench. They have been great all season and that didn't stop with three players scoring double digits in the points column. Ginobili was just decent but players like Gary Neal and Tiago Splitters. The Spurs know how to use their bench with all the depth they have in there while the Clippers head into another off season looking to make the next step.

MVP Of The Series-  I'm going to stick with Tony Parker again even though Tim Duncan has a great claim. Parker was mostly the catalyst once again in the series and really out played Chris Paul through out the series. You can make a claim for Duncan who had some really bright moments but its tough for me not to take Parker. You could take either guy here.

2. Thunder vs 3. Lakers-  It ended one game shorter but many people feel that it was clearly an over matched Lakers team. Lakers looked fatigued late in games and simply doesn't have enough depth. When they were getting drained, the Thunder were causing turnovers or getting on fast break to get easy buckets  with pure speed to space the game out. The only full game I managed to watch in the last three games that  I haven't covered in the last three games was the only Lakers win in Game 3. They were fired up even though it was a tough shooting for most of their players. Kobe Bryant shot 9-25 again but he saved his best for the free throw line going 18-18. It was vintage Kobe night where he wasn't accepting a loss no matter how bad he's shooting. Thunder shot 37 percent that game with all their role players such as Ibaka, Fisher, and Sefolosha all having poor games. Both Sefolosha and Ibaka make up for it with their hard work defensive forcing either Kobe into poor shots or not allowing Pau Gasol to really get involved in the game. The difference was that the Lakers simply made more stops and got to the free throw line. Other than Kevin Durant, nobody really stepped up in the end for the Thunder. Russell Westbrook had a nice game but with only two assists doesn't help the team get others involved. Lakers began to key on both main stars and James Harden shot poorly. That could be a recipe of disaster for the Thunder but then again that's with every team with role players. Role players are important to every team and the best teams have a solid role player core. That's why the Lakers and Clippers have been eliminated with ease because they either have no bench (Lakers) or too many ineffective role players (Clippers). Game 4 was a classic but sadly I only got to see highlights. The Lakers absolutely blew it getting outscored by 12 in the fourth quarter. It was the Westbrook and Durant show for most of the game with the players combining for 68 of the Thunder 103 points.

They both shot over 50 percent as well with the Lakers having no sort of answer. Metta World Power couldn't contain Durant's uncanny ability of hitting the outside shot or getting past him driving the ball while Westbrook had an array of Lakers guard him but their wasn't any answer to it. It was mostly a mistake free game other than the shot blocking ability of each team. Both teams went over six blocks in this game with Serge Ibaka having 5. He had a solid game all around with 14 points but the 5 blocks led to some easy fast break points. In the end though, it was another case of Kobe Bryant not really looking to anyone other than Bynum. Bynum had a solid game 9-15 with 18 points but everyone else either shot poorly or couldn't get involved. Pau Gasol really struggled to get involved with the offensive game plan most of the series while Metta World Power was limited in the series using most of his energy to guard Durant. In the end, it was Durant making the play over Kobe hitting a huge three pointer after a Pau Gasol turnover while Kobe missed a difficult three. The games were really fun to watch in this series so I made sure to tune in to Game 5 in 2nd half but I missed out on the fun for the most part. I'm not sure if the Lakers laid down or if the Thunder just blew them off the court but it was a combination of both. Gasol worked really hard in the game with 16 rebounds and constantly banging bodies down low but it seemed like the Lakers were finished and couldn't recover from the Game 4 heartbreak. Bynum was mostly a non factor with Sessions and World Power (I love that name for Metta) mostly being left out with Kobe's desperation mindset. Kobe took 33 shots and actually was efficient hitting 18 of them but they weren't going to win that way. Lakers bench was once again a complete non factor with nobody contributing and the Lakers never executed any kind of offensive game plan. I know that Oklahoma City is better but since Mike Brown is the coach, this reminded me of when he was coaching the Cavs and going up against the Celtics in the 2nd round. That was the last year for LeBron and in the playoffs, he started to take too many shots particularly jump shots and the Cavs were finished. The Thunder didn't do anything really impressive that wasn't expected other than out rebound the Lakers by 15. When Andrew Bynum only had four rebounds that were just all defensive, you know that he's not fully into the game. Bynum's size and talent automatically gets him at least eight so something had to be wrong. Thunder moved on with their version of big three taking mostly the scoring load with James Harden finally stepping up in the series scoring 17 points on 6-10 shooting. Thunder move on a game faster than I thought while Lakers go into another off season possibly thinking of blowing up their team. I think it's going to happen because the Lakers are too good to lose this easily in the 2nd round for the 2nd straight year. I'm positive that Gasol will be gone but possibly Bynum? It should be interesting Laker fans.

MVP Of The Series-  This is another toss up but I'm going with Kevin Durant here. Both Durant and Westbrook had their moments of brilliance but Durant made more of an impact in the clutch. We saw it in both scrappy wins in Game 2 and 4 on how great Durant is in the clutch. He made more of an impact in the end of games and never really struggled in the series unlike Westbrook who was brutal in Game 2. Both players are playing at an elite level right now and if they continue to play like this, nobody is stopping them.

Lame attempts all around fellas to stop this man. 

2. Heat vs 3. Pacers- I'm going to take full responsibility Heat fans that read the blog or even Heat bashers. I'll admit that after Game 3, I thought it was all over. Dwayne Wade looked gassed and tired playing like a shell of himself. The Heat couldn't buy a three pointer in Game 3 and they just looked completely over matched down low. After my pick of Miami in 5 (original prediction was a sweep), I thought Indiana would finish them in Game 6. That prediction took a complete 180 with the return of Dwayne Wade's all star form and LeBron James showing why he's the best in the world at what he does (classic line). The comeback started in the 2nd half of Game 4 with the Heat down by 8 in the break. Wade was still struggling from the field and the Heat weren't finding much help around LeBron. It seemed like another game doomed for failure and the Heat were going to lay down. It wasn't the case with the third quarter being all Miami and a 14 point differential with the Heat advantage out of that quarter. Dwayne Wade went 6 for 6 in that quarter looking like his old self by slashing to the room and hitting those difficult angled jumpers. He was working with LeBron on the quick passes for easy buckets that are known to be so effective. At one point in the game, the Heat's amazing duo had 38 straight points which is insane. Indiana had no answer for them and they also had no answer for their poor shooting. The backcourt really struggled with George Hill taking poor shots and Paul George failing to step up when needed with even worse shots. They got a nice boost with Collison off the bench who ironically was the only player that was doing anything in the 2nd half besides Danny Granger. Pacers stayed close during the game but the Heat proved to be too much even when they doubled Wade or James. It was also a breakout game for Udonis Haslem who has been struggling all season. I'm a big supporter of Haslem as a Heat fan and he's always been productive despite his limited ability. It was tough seeing him struggle that much with his mid range jumper that was so reliable over the years. He stepped up hitting three huge jump shots at the end of the game with one good eye thanks to an elbow by Tyler Hansbrough in the 3rd quarter. Haslem came up huge in the end to preserve the eight point win. The main story other than the return of Wade playing up to his ability and of course LeBron's 40 point game with 18 rebounds was how Indiana really falls in love with the jump shot far too often. They went 7 for 22 from down town but they also forgot to go to who's been effective most of the series. David West only went 3-8 while Roy Hibbert went 4-9 which isn't a smart game plan for Indiana. They won Game 2 and 3 based on dominating the paint and using both men to over power the undersized Heat core down low. Instead Indiana started shooting way too many jumpers and it cost them a game that could have won them the series. Instead momentum changed and Miami seemed to be primed for a big breakout Game 5 and it happened.

Last nights game was a joy to watch as a Heat fan with everything coming together. After struggling all season with his jump shot, Shane Battier came alive hitting 4-6 from three point range. Battier has always been a terrific on ball defender but he needs to hit those open outside shots because they will come to him. It finally happened yesterday and it could be a start to something. Indiana hung around early but it was another tale of the 3rd quarter. The games in the series have been won on 3rd quarter with most games having a break out team in 3rd quarter to really make the game wide open. It was the Heat in this one especially with Danny Granger going down with a sprained ankle. Indiana tried to go to their method of winning by using West and Hibbert in the post but they combined to shoot 8 foe 23 from the field. Miami rotating defense was on par for most of the night and forced Indiana into a 6-21 shooting night from three point land. Indiana looked out of it and never seemed to recover while Miami was running all over them on the fast break. LeBron had another terrific game with 30 points 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Wade had 28 points proving that it wasn't a one game fluke. Miami shot 61 percent last night which is impressive and they don't seem like they're stopping any time soon. They are in a rhythm right now especially with Anthony and Haslem playing much better. That could change though after Haslem dirty foul on Hansbrough which will probably merit a suspension. It should only be one game but I'd be shocked if he avoids suspension because it didn't look like he was going for the ball and it was a hard shot. The series is getting very physical but Miami is starting to dictate the pace after getting blown off the court in Game 3. The complex of the series can change in an instant and I should've known better before making that bold prediction that Indiana would finish them off. I think Granger will play tomorrow because a minor sprained ankle isn't too serious but I can't see them winning. Miami's defensive scheme has got them locked in and the dynamic duo is in attack mode. If they keep up the great shooting from three point range, this could be a blow out again. I'll be shocked if this series goes back to Miami.

MVP Of The Series- I can't find a toss up in this series for once because LeBron James has been off the charts. He's been productive in every game and has dominated the last two games. He's been put Miami on his back when called upon while not taking many poor shots. It has been fun to watch him play so freely and run the court because sometimes he gets too caught up in half court offense and taking mid range jump shots. He's not shying away from contact and not shying away from the new born tough guy look of Granger. I'm not going to get into Granger and his motto of trying to be a tough guy, but its pretty pathetic to say the least.

4, Celtics v 8. 76ers- I can't really get into this too much because I haven't caught much of either game (tough scheduling). I'm going to watch tonight's game since I'm free of all work. My small impressions from the series is that I'm pretty interested by it even though the last three games haven't gone down to the wire. It has been one team outplaying the other which has been a let down but that's basketball. It can't always be about last minute shots. My impressions from Game 4 was that Kevin Garnett actually had a poor game. Garnett has been arguably the best big man in the playoffs (LeBron has taken over the award for best player in playoffs) and he finally was off going 3 for 12. Boston couldn't get much going offensively with nothing coming from their bench once again. Ray Allen never got going while nobody on the bench stepped up. Garnett was the major problem in the game which was shocking because his shooting was down and had seven turnovers. A big man should never be anywhere near those numbers so I think it was a matter of trying to hard. Boston got great games out of Pierce and Rondo with a nice contribution from Brandon Bass. They all shot 50 percent but the rest of Boston was mostly invisible or struggling. They actually shot better than the 76ers ( 42 to 37) but they turned the ball over 17 times and got out rebounded by 14. 76ers take advantage with their athleticism and speed to get easy shots which was the case. They got away with an awful game from Evan Turner shooting 5-22 with just solid games from Iguodala and Lou Williams. It wasn't a flashy win and nothing to get ecstatic over as a casual fan but the 76ers took it.

Game 5 was a different story with the rise of Brandon Bass. Bass has always been a solid player that can hit the outside jump shot and be physical down low despite being undersized. Bass scored 27 points shooting 9 for 13 from the field. It was even more impressive that he got to the foul line 10 times even if he's a role player. If he can play on a level like this, Miami will have even bigger problems to deal with (Pacer fans its over). Rondo was his usual self with a double-double of his own. The 14 assists always play a big role in Boston games and they always seem to win when Rondo gets at least ten. They didn't need any big scoring game from Pierce and Garnett got back on form with 20 points on 8-17 shooting. It was a commanding Boston win by 15. Philadelphia actually shot well from 46 percent but Boston shot 52 percent while getting to the free throw line 17 times more. They got completely outplayed in the 2nd half by getting outscored by 19 points combined. The main scorers struggled to get much going in Williams, Iguodala, and Turner being frustrated all night. I had Boston in six games when the series started (original prediction had Chicago like everyone else would) and I'm sticking with it. Boston is the veteran team that always delivers even when they don't need the win. They'll end it tonight in what should be a very close game.

MVP Of The Series- It has been a pretty even series in terms of production but I'm going to pick Garnett. Other than Game 4, he's been terrific most of the series. His Game 1 performance of scoring 29 points and 11 rebounds was the main reason Boston slipped away with a 1 point win. The blowout in Philadelphia in Game 3 was captivated by Garnett's 27 points and 13 rebounds. He's been one of the main guys or the main guy when Boston wins. He's still playing at a high level and doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon. I can't wait for the Miami Boston series because I have zero idea what Miami will do if Bosh misses time in that series. I also can't wait for complaints that I'm writing off the Pacers and 76ers already. I'm sorry folks but even if either team somehow wins Game 6, they don't have much of a shot in Game 7. That is all, I think I've talked way too much basketball but that's what the playoffs do to you as a fan that has loved this since the age of 5. 

Final Word/ Plugs

I'm keeping this short because I'm about to head out to play some basketball for the first time in months. I'll be back Friday with more basketball playoff coverage and preview of UFC 146. It will be the usual all Friday sports edition. If you want to read my actual full book, well contact me at any of these links below with your e-mail and it will be sent to you. I'm sure that you will enjoy it. I hope you have a good day.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/allen.strk

Twitter: @AllenOutraged

Gmail: AStrk19@gmail.com

Old Blog: http://allen-strk.blogspot.com/

Feel free to leave a comment below or contact me on any of those links above.