Serving Justice

The Uncommon One blog can touch on some controversial topics. This is mostly a sports based topic but I'm always open to get into music or something crazy in pop culture. Today is one of those days that I'm getting into something a bit controversial. I'm not discussing the Justin Bieber story with him carrying Floyd Mayweather's belt. It was stupid and totally unnecessary for that to happen. I think we can all agree on that Justin had no business in that group and that's the end of story. I'm not going on a tangent about something that we can all agree on because what's the point of that. People have made their jokes about it and that's all I'm going to say. I'm going to cover the recaps of all the fights that went down Saturday mostly UFC but of course Mayweather versus Cotto. This is a jam packed blog edition with so much to talk about so the main topic won't be that long because I do know my limits.


The first topic today will be controversial as promised above. Due to it being all over the news or if you follow CM Punk on twitter (wise men do), the major buzz has been about same sex marriage. This topic is very controversial due to how personal it can be and how ignorant people can be. I'm sure some people won't agree with me but that's fine because I do understand people's boundaries or if they were brought up by a crooked family such as myself. This is a very close debate that I'm willing to talk about because there so many different opinions. Let's get into it because we got recaps of fight, basketball playoffs, and Paul Heyman to talk about.

Marriage Can Get Heated

The heated debate has been going on for years now because the world is so diverse and different which makes things crazy. With the huge story from North Carolina on keeping gay marriage illegal, I feel the need to speak up. I'm going to be direct and say why I support gay marriage (skip this and read about how awesome UFC is if you disagree or ignorant). With the new generation coming up, people consider my generation a different breed. Old people see us as the generation that has developed degrading trends, degrading music, and basically everything with the word degrading. Now with gay marriage starting to be discussed around, it seems like old people are about to have a heart attack and bash people about it. If you don't believe me, go ask a family member older than fifty and they'll say something similar to "in my day, this garbage wouldn't go down called same sex marriage". I'm not going to get stereotypical and talk about old people booking weddings when they were nine which is a common theme in South America and Africa which is a damn shame. Whatever happened to the common logic of "love"? That seems to be lost and if you don't believe me, go look at the divorce rate and you tell me that marriage is not becoming unstable. Also the whole Christian values phrase that people love to give is becoming irrelevant because I'm pretty sure the person arguing doesn't even go to Church unless it's a holiday. I've never had a problem with gay people because I'm fortunate enough to be smart enough to not listen to my family members. That may make me sound like some evil child but you don't know how judgmental my family can be along with several Croatians. I may make mean jokes and be too harsh on people, but I'm very considerate so I can communicate with gay people. The fact that states aren't allowing them to be happy is against what living is about and that is to be happy. I've met gay people before and I've had some great sports discussions with them or even music. When you get to know them, it really starts to annoy me how they get bullied with their life decisions. I know how it feels because I still get teased to a degree about my love for writing and it's not easy to shrug off because I'm so emotional. You could imagine how emotional gay people are which makes me concerned about how much grief they get for making this decision to be openly gay and want to get married. 

I'm not going to completely defend gay people though because I've had creepy experiences. I've had a gay drunk person once tell me that I make ladies hearts melt. It would have been funny and cool until the guy was in his 50's when I saw his face. I've had people at my job just come up to me and start dancing around with a gay pride shirt at my job. I have no sympathy for obnoxious gays because they are just asking for it. It's the gays like one of my favorite bartenders named Mr.Adams who is just a happy guy that you can have a simple conversation with and you wouldn't think he was gay. If you want to be gay and be obnoxious, you can do that but expect horrible results. I'm not trying to be your life coach but I'm not going to sit here and say that I'm all in support of everything to do with gay people. I'm not gay just for the record even though I think you already know that, but this is for new readers. I'm not completely defending gay people but I'm positive that they are proud of what they are and would treat marriage like it should be. It seems that marriage is being taken less seriously especially after the statistics have been shown and the major Kim Kardashian incident (let's not talk anymore about her). I'm just hoping more people can become considerate and stop being so ignorant. That's more of a wish than likely goal because so many people are on social media which makes it more prone to have ignorant people or trolls like some would say. I'm not going to hold my breath about gay marriage being legalized but it would be nice to see it happen. That's my personal opinion and I hope you respect it because this is a serious topic. I'm sure people will disagree and some possibly will poke fun, but that's fine because I'm sure many people would agree with me. People that are my age don't have a clue what love is and don't have a clue about how gay people aren't all weird. The world is a strange place to live in like you've probably realized already. It's j all evolving and starting to look deep inside issues before making a final veridic about someone or something. I wish the best for all gay people but you won't see me going hardcore about this. I'm not going to a parade or making slogans because I'm not gay and it won't make me lose sleep if it never happens. I'll just be disappointed if it doesn't get legalized because that will be a shame to people that actually believe in love. I'm sure old people will disagree with me completely and talk about their generation, when I couldn't care less about the generation. This is a new day and this is a world full of people that like to change things. I'm all for change and I respect people for speaking up for their beliefs.  The moral here is that legalizing gay marriage would be a good decision and that people should stop being so ignorant to gay people because of their life decision. The first amendment is used for so many things and this is another case that the first amendment is important here. Sadly North Carolina doesn't believe in the first amendment and is in need of reading not only my blog but the internet's opinion because it is an outrage. Hopefully you understand this better and possibly I changed your mind about the whole issue. 

Violence Is Great

I'm going to talk about the main story even though I'm not a boxing fan and watching boxing made me realize why I'm not a fan. The general consensus for boxing these days is that it's fading away with not many major stars and terrible production. The commentators are old and sound like two guys that belong in a retirement home. The post fight interview guy seems to be prone to a heart attack at any second. Everything seems out dated and that didn't change Saturday. I'm a  Floyd Mayweather fan like I said on Friday and he was fantastic but as the fight went on, I was bored. The twelve rounds seem so dragging and the punches didn't seem to connect as much until the final round when Mayweather started to tee off on Cotto. Mayweather was in command of most of the fight but the fight lacked many big moments that made you seem really impressed. I give lots of praise to Cotto because he really worked hard and had some moments where he was really taking it to Mayweather. Despite his fan base on twitter having full of fake fans, he really delivered and it didn't come off as someone that was fighting scared. It was a solid main event fight but it still left me as someone that wouldn't watch boxing unless it was someone like Floyd. The sport just seems so out dated and it seems so predictable that you just tend to lose interest. I'm not mad though because boxing is becoming so irrelevant these days and UFC continues to grow so lets move on to the fun part of fighting.

Diaz a** kicking tradition forever lives on!

I'm proud to say that a UFC on Fox finally delivered with some great fights. Three fights ended with a true decision including two submissions which is great to see. Pat Barry needs to retire after getting totally dismantled by Lavar Johnson. Barry seemed to get a few shots early but he got drained quickly and Johnson picked him apart with shots to the face after. I'm not sure why that fight was on Fox but at least we saw a knockout out of it. The next fight was a pretty big upset for Alan Belcher against Rousimar Palhares which caught me off guard. Palhares was considered to be the next rising star in the respective division and he fell flat here. He never looked like a threat and was getting tossed around Belcher the entire fight. What made the victory so impressive was that Belcher won with a leg lock. I can't remember the last time that I saw a leg lock submission that actually worked. It totally caught me off guard and it made me realized that Palhares has lots of work to do before becoming an actual contender. The only fight that needed a scoring decision that was really close was Johnny Hendricks versus Josh Koscheck. This was the fight that I'm mostly excited for because I've seen both guys put on great fights. This was considered a disappointment because a decent amount of the fight was around the cage with both guys being pressed up on the cage. That can hurt a fight and it doesn't really make things productive. When the fight was actually happening, Koscheck looked good in the 1st round getting some shots in. That didn't last long because Koscheck made the mistake of playing Hendricks game. Instead of making it a wrestling match, it turned into striking and that favors Hendricks. Hendricks started landing some serious shots and started to hurt Koscheck's infamous eye that has been hurt for years thanks to George St.Pierre. I actually thought Koscheck won the fight because he seemed to last more punches and more on top of Hendricks, but I wasn't mad at the decision. I'm a Hendricks fan and he delivered some major shots to Koscheck so it didn't surprise me to see him win. It was a close fight that didn't blow me away but it was enjoyable. 

The main event delivered despite being mostly one sided. I'm not a fan of one sided fights unless I'm a big fan of the guy or it ends in a great knockout or submission. I'm not a big Nate Diaz fan but that finish to the fight was incredible. Jim Miller was always considered to be solid but he never beat anyone major. This was his chance against a huge up and comer in Nate Diaz. After the win versus Cerrone, I've been a big believer in Nate Diaz. He didn't fail here and was in control the entire fight. Other than a few nice leg kicks by Miller, Diaz was dominant. Diaz landed in a few nice punches to the ribs of Miller before taking down Miller locking in a guillotine. Miller attempted to get out of the position with a roll out but Diaz perfected in a complete roll up to lock in the guillotine. It reminded me of Frank Mir tapping out Big Nog with the arm bar that still has people talking. The roll through was incredible and it has created some buzz. Now I'm aware that UFC on Fox 3 drew bad ratings which makes sense to me because their weren't any major stars. They didn't have a Rashad Evans or Junior Dos Santos or Chael Sonnen compared to the first two UFC on Fox cards. That doesn't surprise me but this still was the best UFC on Fox television because it had three fights that ended in a conclusive way. Hopefully they continue to put UFC on Fox once every three months or so because it could be a major success regardless of the down fall of ratings. I really enjoyed it and I'm happy to see Nate Diaz win in dominant fashion. I've given the Diaz brothers a lot of grief for a while now, but they are starting to grow on me. They may be bonafide a**holes but they are terrific fighters that have a fun personality. It was cool to see Nick Diaz in the corner because when have you seen Nick lately ever since the loss to Carlos Condit. The show was fun and UFC continues to blow away boxing from my point of view. I'm sure many would agree because the unpredictability factor and the different intangibles to mixed martial arts but it simply is evolving. I'm a very happy fan and I'm so excited for Frank Mir versus Junior Dos Santos that will be covered when the time comes.

I'm a Paul Heyman Guy

Before I get into the subject, I'm going to say something quick to all the haters. I was thinking of doing a huge blog about it but I'm not going to do that yet you either get it or you don't I haven't talked much about wrestling lately despite all the craziness that has been going on. I really enjoyed Extreme Rules although I'm not a fan of Lesnar losing to Cena. For the 2nd straight year, Extreme Rules was better than Wrestlemania which doesn't surprise me because Extreme Rules doesn't waste 30 minutes on preview segments and awful rap concerts.  Now I've gotten some grief for talking about wrestling because wrestling is still considered "not cool". The on going struggle with people that don't understand wrestling but love to criticize people continue to go on. I'm not going to debate with people especially after a quote I read from Tyson Kidd (underrated talent). He tweeted a very strong quote "For those that don't get it, no explanation will do. For those that love it, no explanation is necessary". I think that basically explains everything which applies to everyone. If you want to watch Glee then go ahead. I'll give you grief for about a minute then lay off. I'm not going to get on your case time and time again which people love to do when I tweet about wrestling. I'd consider myself a pretty passionate fan even though their was a period when I didn't watch it. The last three years I've watched has got me into the full swing of things wrestling wise after watching from 1998 to 2005. I'm not forcing anyone to watch it because people have the right to do whatever they want. It's my entertainment and its what I like to watch, while you can go watch Jersey Shore or Teen Mom or whatever garbage MTV is showing. I could call it garbage which is my opinion just like you could call wrestling garbage even though you probably have no idea how much sacrifice these wrestlers put into the business. That's fine I'm not going to look down on you, I'll just simply ignore your opinion. That's my mini rant and I don't even get that mad when people joke around about my love of wrestling because it's my interest and nobody is going to make me stop watching it. Hopefully the non fans can understand and realize that people can do whatever they want, not downgrade someone for watching something they like. It's not like I'm doing drugs or gaining excessive weight or cheating on a girlfriend. Now enough ranting to the idiots that don't understand, lets talk about another legend returning!

The evil genius is back!

I'm happy to see Paul Heyman back in a WWE ring. I'm a long time supporter of ECW even though I only saw it until the end but I got to see the One Night Stand shows to realize how awesome it was. Even though people will remember his financial downfalls, Paul Heyman will forever be remembered as one of the most creative geniuses ever in the business. Heyman is highly respected by just about anyone because of his ideas and how powerful he is on the mic. Who could forget that shoot promo he did in 2005 ripping on JBL, Edge, and Eric Bischoff. It was one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen and it just made you love Paul Heyman even if you remember as the jerk general manager from Smackdown. I was young growing up seeing Paul Heyman be the psychotic heel manager for Brock Lesnar so it took some time for me to appreciate Paul. In 2004-2005 when I started realizing how wrestling works and how the characters were playing out, I started to realize how brilliant Paul was (I realized it was fake after Wrestlemania 17 damn it!). I'm sure most of the wrestling community has missed Paul Heyman even though he's still very social on the internet with his website and having some really informative interviews with Ariel Helwani (my man!). Who could forget Ariel interviewing Paul after Brock Lesnar made Shane Carwin submit and Paul being in absolute tears. I'm a pretty emotional person but Paul Heyman is on an entire different level of being emotional because he's so passionate in the things that he loves. That's why I love the guy so much and to see him finally return to deliver just a five minute promo had me standing up in joy to see Paul again. He informed everyone that Lesnar wasn't coming back and delivered it in his epic voice that only Paul Heyman can do. This was obviously story line related and Brock will be back shortly facing Triple H at Summerslam likely. I'm hoping this means that Paul Heyman will be on TV again because Paul can still deliver on the microphone with the best of them. It was a breath of fresh hair to see Paul back and the internet literally exploded which is always fun to witness. I'm sure this isn't the last we saw Paul on WWE programming and I'm sure the best has yet to come. With so many epic returns in 2012 from Jericho to Lesnar to now Heyman, things continue to be exciting in the world of wrestling and I'm happy that I'm more involved with it than ever because it has been really compelling. 

Quick Playoff Thoughts

I'm going to talk more about this Friday obviously in my Playoff Playout but I'll talk about five quick things that have caught my eye. This is going from Friday night all the way to now.

What a joke

1. The quick playoff exit of the Dallas Mavericks was pretty shocking even though I predicted they were going to lose in Game 4 last Friday. The only time I've ever witnessed a championship team get eliminated in the first round by getting swept was the 2007 Miami Heat (horrible team to watch as a fan). Unlike Game 3, the Mavericks didn't lay down but they couldn't contain Kevin Durant or James Harden. I had a feeling Harden was due for a break out game and he finally did it with 29 points on 11-16 shooting which is ridiculous. Oklahoma City shot 52 percent while Dallas shot just 41 percent which told the story. Dallas has shot poorly all series with veterans like Jason Kidd and Jason Terry having horrible series. Delonte West has been a non factor and Shawn Marion lost his defensive presence after Game 2. It all fell apart in the end for Dallas who simply played a team that had more talent and was more hungrier. Dallas ran into a rough matchup and I knew it wasn't going to last long but the fact that they couldn't win one game after playing them so well in the first two games in Oklahoma City is pretty shocking. 

2. Even though I'm positive that the series will end today, Carmelo Anthony deserves his due. I'm aware that he can be considered a coach killer (good luck in your future endeavors D'Antoni) and played poorly most of the season (barley shooting 40 percent) but Carmelo went on a tear in April. He was easily the most valuable player in April and it showed with the award. Even though he's been horrible through the first three games of the playoffs, Carmelo was absolutely unstoppable in Game 4. Carmelo couldn't be contained and it wasn't just because of his shooting but he was becoming a play maker. He was finding people open like Amarie Stoudmire who somehow showed up and played an efficient game. He even made a pass to Mike Bibby and Bibby hit a huge three. Carmelo hasn't played well in the playoffs through out his career but he truly delivered last Sunday and deserves his praise. 

3. Even though they lost last night, the 76ers have been impressive in the playoffs. They are up 3-2 headed into Philadelphia for a pivotal Game 6 against the Bulls. I got to see good part of Game 3 and some of tonight's game even though it was really ugly. The 76ers still deserve their praise of taking care of their home court and making fans believe that they can beat the number one seed that still played at a high level without their franchise player for a good chunk of the season. Spencer Hawes has really broke out in this series with back to back 20 point games and being a force everywhere on the court. He has developed into a solid spot shooter from anywhere on the court and has been a defensive force with blocked shots. Hawes has been the break out star for the 76ers that I'm sure nobody expected especially missing most of the season. Jrue Holiday also gets credit for becoming a game changer from not only his driving ability but also his assists. Philadelphia has been a joy to watch and I'm really pulling for them to pull that huge upset because nothing is better than seeing the 8th seed beating the 1st seed as a fan. Hopefully the 76ers can get over the horrific shooting performance from tonight and finish the Bulls off in their home court for Game 6.

4. The series has been very interesting so far as expected but it hasn't gone like most people said it would go. I'm happy to say that my pick of the Clippers beating Memphis is looking good after seeing the Clippers taking care of business at their home court. My playoff preview received a lot of praise other than the Clippers pick which received a lot of criticism. I knew Memphis was a solid team but I didn't expect this much backlash from picking the Clippers. I've been right so far thanks to Chris Paul showing why you never pick a team led by Paul to go one and done. Also it's thanks to Memphis' brutal outside shooting that I was concerned about from the start. Game 4 was an absolute treat especially to see Blake Griffin have a monster game. Blake has been criticized all season despite putting up excellent numbers for not improving his game. He proved with toughness and grit that he can still put up huge numbers in playoff games while being efficient against the best. The Clippers made the Grizzles an outside shooting team which led to some awful shot selection for Rudy Gay who has struggled this series. Then they forgot that Marc Gasol can score and he hasn't been used properly. The Clippers are out smarting the Grizzles which is shocking considering Vinny Del Negro is their coach and he's not very good. I'm not sure the Clippers can keep this going in the next round because two main scorers and a bunch of inconsistent role players don't create much success but right now the Clippers stars are playing as well as anyone while Memphis is having an identity crisis getting players involved.

5. San Antonio dominated like I expected in the first round with a complete sweep of the Jazz. The matchup was shown from the start with Tony Parker dominating the series due to the lack of point guard play in Utah. Utah tried very hard in Game 4 and Al Jefferson showed fire with a huge performance despite saying that the Spurs will win the NBA Finals. Game 4 was a gritty win but the Spurs have looked very good so far with their deep rotation. The Spurs know they're going to have different players stepping up whether its Thiago Splitter or Gary Neal or Stephen Jackson. It has been a different occurrence every game which shows how good the Spurs are. This team looks scary right now because they're going to get plenty of rest that a veteran team needs in the playoffs and they don't seem on stopping this hot streak that leads back to early April. Manu Ginobili had a strong series as well and continues to show that he is the ultimate game changer off the bench. This team is going to be a tough out and they finally have people believing in them after questions about how the team is aging. 

Final Word & Plugs

This was different from the recent ones because so much is coming on. I could have done one huge story but I felt this was the best way to do it. I'll be back Friday with the playoff play out  discussing all playoff series and possibly the next playoff series for the semifinals. I'm thinking Indiana versus Miami is the only game that can be discussed but things could change. Since my brother's wedding is Saturday and I got lot to help out with, it will be a shorter Friday edition than usual. I'll probably just cover the basketball but I'm not ruling out adding something else but it just seems more likely. I do have something to plug but I'll wait to Friday because it's a pretty cool announcement even though it only should really interest soccer fans. Anyway have a great day and I'll enjoy mine later tonight when the Heat end the Knicks and their ridiculous fan base.

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Playoff Playout Part 1

I'm back with another mostly basketball edition. The playoffs are going on strong and I promised everyone that I'll be doing this once a week. Basketball is very popular and I'm sure most people would love to discuss. If you're looking for hockey, well I don't watch it sorry. Before I get into the playoffs, a major subject will be discussed. I'm not ranting on the Bounty situation and Jonathan Vilma getting the well deserved yearly suspension. I don't feel that it's needed because you either know about the Bounty and how serious it is or you're clueless and don't respect the safety of players. Anyway time to get on a serious topic.

Even though I didn't get into football until around 1999, I'm well aware of the impact that Junior Seau left. His greatest years were mostly when I didn't know much about him, but eventually I realized his greatness. He impressed me in San Diego with his leadership and linebacker IQ when I was just starting to learn the game. He moved on to Miami for a few years but he was very often injured during those years Then he went to the Patriots and it was cool to see him being on a major contender team. Overall his best years was before I fully got into football, but I know the man's greatness. The fact that he committed suicide is very disturbing and it leaves a huge empty spot in the sport of football. The worst way to die is suicide and I'm not going to criticize him for the decision. It's the worst decision you can make but I didn't know the guy. I know the guy from on the field and when he was on the field, you never heard a negative thing about him. The incident reminds me of Steve McNair dying two years ago committing suicide. McNair was another great player that you never heard a bad thing about. Steve was a player that I saw a lot play and he was easily one of my favorite quarterbacks for his fearless play. Hopefully players don't pull anymore stunts like this because it's getting really sad. Another crazy stat is that eight Charger players have died from that Super Bowl team in 1994. I'm going to leave a video from Seau's career here and I hope you all watch it because he's a great player that should be remembered for his excellence. The video is below here so check it out then I'll be discussing the basketball playoffs below.

Amazing video

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

It's been that kind of series for the Knicks.

1. Bulls vs 8.76ers- The complex of the series has changed in drastic fashion after Derrick Rose's injury. Rose is the game changing player that the 76ers don't have. Now without Rose, this becomes an open series with lots of transition basketball. With C.J Watson running the point, the Bulls may look to push the ball more in transition which could be a problem. The 76ers can play in transition with the best of them because they have so many athletes on their team. They showed that if they can get in transition and find easy baskets, they're tough to beat. In Game 2, you saw Jrue Holiday take advantage of the absence of Rose with a dominant game. Lou Williams and Evan Turner had great games as well which really pushed the 76ers over the top on that huge run in the 3rd quarter. The Bulls didn't exactly play bad but allowing fifty nine percent shooting will make you lose. They need to get Kyle Korver the ball more because he's proven that he can hit huge shots in critical moments like he did against the Heat. You can't give him only four shots a game because he has so much more value than that.

Future Of The Series- I'm going to be shocked if the Bulls don't make it out of this series regardless of how the 76ers play. Chicago has proven they can beat teams without Rose and have too much talent to drop out. Carlos Boozer needs to make more of an impact in this series and step up defensively because Elton Brand has been very efficient through out the series. The Bulls are one of the best defensive teams in the league and I'm aware that they'll look to limit the 76ers transition offense and counter attack by using their big men to find open shooters on the perimeter. The series will still be a struggle but the Bulls will close this series out in six. With Rose out, I'm expecting Luol Deng to be the guy to take over this series over Chicago. He's matched up with Andre Iguodala which is a tough match up but Deng is a proven player that can score anywhere on the court.

2. Heat vs 7. Knicks- It has the most bizarre series out of all the playoffs based on 4th quarter collapses, some Oscar winning acting, and guys losing their minds punching fire extinguishers. Through out all the drama and controversy, the Heat have owned the Knicks in the 4th quarter in the last two games to go 3-0 in the series. They have simply played more efficient than the Knicks and proving how strong their defense can be. They have swarmed the Knicks which leads to rushed jumpers, difficult three point attempts, and turnovers. Before the injury, Amarie Stoudmire was expected to step up and be the 2nd scorer they desperately needed. Instead he looked lost like he has for the most part this season and likely won't be seen again this season. The three point shot hasn't fallen for the Knicks in any of their games so far including last night with a 4 for 20 effort from down town. Carmelo Anthony has shot horrible in this series thanks to Shane Battier mostly playing defense on him. Battier has shot poorly in the series but he's done an excellent job defensively. The Knicks need their role players to step up but other than Jr. Smith and Baron Davis in spurts, it has limited. J.R Smith can hit some really tough shots and can light up the crowd with a huge dunk like we saw last night, but he's proven to be wildly inconsistent in this series. The Heat still continue to take care of business despite a horrible first half performance last night. Dwayne Wade has been the most consistent player in the series with solid games through out the series including being the catalyst for the Heat in Game 3 when they went on a huge run to close out the Knicks. LeBron James has obviously been the MVP of the series with his game changing ability but he played horrendous in the first three quarters last night. Somehow he scored 32 points but it was an ugly game for him which can happen from time to time. Miami has taken care of business so far despite the lack of consistent outside shooting from their role players but it must be very positive that the Heat have shut down a very hot Knicks team that was the best player in the month of April in Carmelo Anthony.

Future Of The Series-  The Knicks may win Game 4 just because of pride and Mike Woodson wouldn't let his team lay down like this. They have too much pride after getting decimated in the 4th quarter just to lay down like this. That doesn't mean I think they're going to win Game 4 but it will be competitive. I'm pretty sure Jeremy Lin will remain out along with Stoudmire so it will be difficult. Carmelo Anthony may score over forty points here and have a huge breakout game but the Heat will look to get the job done to get rest for the 2nd round. After last night's awful first half performance, I'm sure Eric Spolestra will have his team playing hard ready to end this right away. I'm going with the sweep here for the Heat on Sunday but it will be a very close game. It will also lead to me posting a picture on my Twitter/Facebook of me in a Heat jersey with a broom sweeping away something that connects with  the Knicks. I'm probably going to be so much heat for it, but my hatred for the Knicks is always high and I'm never scared of being a bad guy.

3. Pacers vs 6. Magic- It might have taken until Game 2, but reality is starting to hit hard on this series. The Pacers have absolutely dominated the last two games. After a Game 1 hiccup, where the Pacers shot horrible and forgot that Jameer Nelson can actually still play. They have stepped up the intensity and haven't allowed Orlando to score more than 78 points in the last two games which is very impressive. One interesting change has been George Hill taking Darren Collison's starting role which doesn't surprise me. Collison has been a disappointment all season and George Hill has always seemed to make more game changing plays than Collison. Hill has been solid but it has been a team effort. Paul George and Hill were the main stars in Game 2 but last night, it was Danny Granger and Roy Hibbert. I'm surprised it took Hibbert this long to have a big game because without Dwight Howard, he should dominate this series. Hibbert needs more of a mean streak and command to take over the game because he has so much potential. Orlando looks finished after a shocking upset in Game 1 but they can't shoot well from the series and have trouble getting the three point shot going. Everyone knows they can shoot yet nobody has really shot well from there. Ryan Anderson hasn't stepped up this series after a great regular season. He was expected to take Howard's role as the big man scoring but that seems to be Glen Davis job now. I know that Anderson and Howard have different playing styles but Anderson was averaging fifteen points a game this season yet is struggling to muster much this series. Orlando's back court is getting out played this series in a big way which doesn't help the cause. Somebody needs to let Jason Richardson know that they didn't trade to get him for poor shooting percentages and not getting to the free throw line.

Future Of The Series- I predicted this series to be a sweep but Indiana simply couldn't score in Game 1. That being said, this series will still end in 5 because Orlando looks like a dead duck. Indiana realizes that Miami will be done with their series soon and they don't want Miami to get that much rest. I'm expecting more consistent play across the team with Granger leading the way. The only way Orlando gets back in this series is winning Game 4 but Indiana seems to be in complete control with Hill starting. If they can get Roy Hibbert to start taking more shots and dominating the paint, Indiana may find something that they can abuse the Heat with because Miami doesn't have a true center.

4. Celtics vs 5. Hawks- This series has been an absolute mess but why would you expect less? The Hawks- Celtics rivalry always has strange occurrences such as injuries, incidents, terrible shooting from star players, and players that take over. Both teams haven't clicked well offensively but you would expect that since both teams are missing star players like Al Horford and Ray Allen. I've been really impressed with Atlanta's defense because they aren't known as a great defensive team. I was positive that with Rondo missing Game 2 due to suspension that the Hawks would get a huge 2-0 advantage going into Boston. Instead Paul Pierce literally took Boston on his shoulders and shut the critics up with a thirty six point game. There has been some whispers that Pierce was becoming over the hill yet he showed that he can still come up with a 36 point explosion when the team needs him. Other than a decent game from Garnett and Avery Bradley playing smart basketball, the Celtics didn't have anyone that really stood out on the offensive side of the court. On defense, they played smothering defense that caused the Hawks to shoot just 35 percent from the field. Garnett frustrated Josh Smith a lot during the game which caused a horrendous 8-21 from Smith where he seemed to get tired of driving into the paint. Smith didn't get to the free throw line at all during the game which was the cause of taking too many jump shots which is a problem for Smith. With Rondo out, you would think that Jeff Teague would have a breakout game. Instead they put Avery Bradley on Teague which led to a 6-18 game from Teague. The Hawks had a great opportunity and executed poorly offensively which leads to the series being split headed into Boston.

Future Of The Series- I'm not expecting the Hawks to lay down in the series but they are in trouble. The Celtics get Rondo back and he's got to be frustrated after missing Game 2. With Rondo coming back, that just adds another element to the Celtics. With the huge home court advantage in Boston, I doubt the Hawks win any games there. Boston rarely loses at home in the playoffs and seem to be playing very well despite the Game 1 loss. With Pierce and Garnett playing at a high level and Bradley becoming one of the best on ball defenders in the league, Boston is going to be a tough out. The Hawks might stretch the series to six because they will have a home game for Game 5. Boston is known for poor shooting games at times so I'm expecting one more miscue. Once it hits Game 6 and the game is in Boston, the series ends at 6 with Atlanta not having enough scorers offensively to get the job done. I'm aware that I said the series ends in 5 but Ray Allen not playing in the series has me changing my mind for just one game. Boston's bench hasn't done much in the series and they seriously miss him. That could be a problem when games get longer and series stretch out longer for Boston with so many aging players on the team.

Western Conference Quarterfinals

Tony Parker in the paint! Who didn't see that one coming?

1. Spurs vs 8. Jazz- This series has been no contest so far like I expected. The Jazz haven't really been competitive so far in this series even though people feel like the Jazz might steal one. Right now nobody is playing better than the Spurs with their great depth. They have a really strong and deep rotation with role players stepping up at different times. Boris Diaw has been a nice pickup and Kawhi Leonard has continued his impressive rookie season. Tony Parker has been the main star in this series with his play making ability and controlling the pace of the game. With the Jazz usual playing in a half court offense set, Parker always tries to push the ball and make plays. He's been highly successful getting easy buckets by simply driving to the hope. Devin Harris and Jamal Tinsley have been blown away much like the entire Jazz team in the series. The Jazz have shot poorly for the most part of the series and haven't been able to stop the Spurs from scoring in the paint. They are getting beat at their own game which is to pound the ball in the paint with Jefferson and Millsap. Both guys had solid games in Game 1 but both struggled in Game 2 taking poor shots. The Jazz are in severe trouble with their lack of depth and having their stars struggle. They need to learn how to react to the pick and roll much better and to get physical with Tony Parker. Right now Parker is breaking free and is getting to wherever he wants on the court. He's the guy that makes the Spurs go and makes players like Gary Neal and DeJuan Blair valuable.

Future Of The Series- The Spurs are a very disciplined team so it wouldn't surprise me if they complete the sweep. Despite the new youth of talent, the main stars are veterans and they would enjoy the rest while seeing the Grizzlies and Clippers battle it out. The Jazz seem too limited in the back court to stay in games trying to defend guys like Parker and Manu Ginobili. They may take a game if the Spurs start shooting poorly, but the Jazz aren't a great scoring team so that may not even be enough. This is a really tough match up for them with too many flaws to beat a team that is very hot at the moment with loads of depth. I predicted a sweep and it will end as a sweep.

2. Thunder vs 7. Mavericks- I've been raving about how much fun the series during Wednesday's edition. It has been the Russell Westbrook series with Shawn Marion playing lock down defense on Kevin Durant. A few other components with Dirk Nowitzki bound to break out was the plan for Game 3. Instead it has been a completely one sided game with the Thunder being in complete control of the game. Durant has been highly efficient shooting at a high percentage along with getting some nice looks with Russell Westbrook garnering so much attention. Westbrook still has played well and it may be time to Jason Kidd to retire after this series because he looks completely worn out. He's shot poor all series and is on the back end of Westbrook whenever Russell makes a move. Shawn Marion has played poorly through out the game on both ends of the court. He's looked lost offensively and has started to lose track of Durant around the court. The supporting cast of Dallas has been poor with Jason Terry struggling to shoot and Dirk commanding double teams whenever he gets the ball. Dallas has met its match and could possibly become the first team since the 2007 Heat to be swept in the first round of the playoffs after winning the NBA title. Dallas seems just too old and lethargic at times to pose a threat to the Thunder even when the games have been close mainly because Durant has shot so poorly. With an efficient Durant and terrific defensive play allowing just 34 percent scoring, the Thunder look primed for revenge after losing in the Western conference finals last year to the Mavericks.

Future Of The Series- This reminds me of the Heat-Knicks series so much even though the games have been far more competitive than the Knicks vs Heat games. Dallas just seems old and doesn't seem all that interested. I also don't see them having much pride left especially after playing this poorly at home. I'm more confident in the Thunder sweeping the Mavericks than the Heat sweeping the Knicks. I just don't see Dallas garnering enough after winning the Finals last year. Oklahoma City is hungry and prime to continue playing well to win the Finals. I think Dallas may play well early on but Oklahoma City will stay on course and eventually pull away from Dallas to finish the sweep. I'm expecting a big game out of James Harden who has been quiet this series. He hasn't been called upon to do much but he's been quiet far too long to not explode for a twenty point game.

3. Lakers vs 6. Nuggets- The first quarter hasn't been friendly to the Nuggets. The Nuggets have been outscored by twenty points combined from the first two games. The other three quarters have been tight which makes the 2-0 lead a bit inflated. I'm not confident about this series going to six games though based on seeing Game 2. The Lakers clearly don't miss Metta World Power (his name is Power to me!) with Danilo Gallinari shooting 5-18 from the field and really hurting the Nuggets from the field. The main reason why the Lakers are in control of the series is mainly because of how the size difference. I knew the Nuggets didn't have much quality big men but I didn't expect it to be that much of a disadvantage. Kenneth Faried has done a nice job but the Nuggets clearly miss Nene. They have got nothing out of Koufos, Mogzov, and McGree while matching them up against the likes of Gasol and Bynum. Bynum absolutely dominated the paint in Game 2 with the Nuggets having no answer defensively. The Nuggets stayed close in Game 2 based on the balance of scoring led by Ty Lawson. Ramon Sessions was a nice pickup for the Lakers but he was getting out played by Lawson and couldn't contain him. Lawson is becoming a star and the catalyst to the Nuggets but the problem with the Nuggets have been three point shooting. One of the biggest reasons for the success of the Nuggets has been three point shooting this season but they've been shooting poorly against a Lakers team that isn't a great perimeter defense to begin with. They need to start hitting threes otherwise they won't stand a chance of making this series competitive. They showed promise but until they start hitting threes and trying to contain the paint, they won't win a game this series because those two components are huge. It also would help if Kobe Bryant wasn't that efficient, but that's a tough task. I'm shocked that it took this long to bring up Kobe, but he's dominated this series. Corey Brewer and Aaron Afflalo haven't given Kobe much problems so far. They need to force him into tougher jump shots and more turnovers.

Future Of The Series- The Lakers always seem to lose focus at the wrong times. That will happen once this series along with a break out game from Danilo Gallinari when he scores over thirty points and people praise him as the new Carmelo Anthony of Denver. Then he'll shoot 6-23 from the field and Denver will lose by four points in a heart breaker. This series will go five instead of six like I predicted because I didn't think McGee was such a bust. I always felt JaVale McGree was overrated but I thought he had some value since they traded a player like Nene. McGee looks lethargic this series and may want to hit the gym this off season to add more muscle to bang with the likes of Bynum. The Lakers will win in five because the Nuggets can't win on the road and can't break through against a Lakers team that seems to be motivated ever since the Metta World Power incident happened.

4. Grizzles vs 5. Nuggets- The series has been controlled by the Grizzles for seven quarters. The Clippers comeback in Game 1 has made this series close but I've not been impressed with the Clippers. Other than the entire bench stepping up in Game 1, nobody other than the two main stars played well in Game 2. Chris Paul was brilliant as usual and Blake Griffin had a decent game but even shooting a high percentage didn't save them. The Clippers shot 56 percent but it was mostly negated by 20 turnovers and allowing 16 offensive rebounds. to the Grizzles. Those are two huge factors that can lead to a loss. The Grizzles poor outside shooting continues but they are scoring in the paint which really helps and scoring off of turnovers. The issue with the Clippers is that they are so sloppy and can get so frustrated easily that plays into the Grizzles method especially with their front court. Marc Gasol mostly makes plays off offensive rebounds and broken plays which is why he's having a solid series. Mike Conley has been better than I expected even if he is matching up with Chris Paul. He's picking his spots and shooting at a high percentage. I'm really confused with this series though and I think Game 3 will set the tone for the series. Caron Butler really needs to step up because with Bullips out, he needs to step up as the third main scorer.

Future Of The Series- I'm really lost with this series because so many things can break down. What is going to leave a bigger impact the Grizzles outside shooting or the Clippers sloppy play. I'm not really sure what to expect but I'm going to stick with my series in Clippers in 7. I'm expecting Butler to step up and the Clippers bench like Bledsoe and Young to have some big games. I'm not convinced that the Grizzles can have all their stars connecting on all cylinders. Zach Randolph has looked lost so far and can't co-existed that well this series. Anything can happen in this series which makes this series so awesome. The Grizzles could easily prove me wrong but I'm expecting the Clippers star power to shine through. They didn't bring in all this new talent to go one and one in the playoffs.

One Night Of Violence

Saturday is going to be filled with fight. I'd like to call it one nation of violence (Samoa Joe reference, nobody caught that unless they support dysfunctional companies) but it will be a night of violence. I'm mostly looking forward to UFC mainly because I'm a UFC guy and really hope Fox can deliver a good show. Despite having the likes of Junior Dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, Chael Sonnen, and Rashad Evans fighting, UFC hasn't really delivered on shows with excitement. It has come off flat without many knockouts or classic fights but that could change Saturday. The card lacks big names but it has some nice star power on it. The other event that's going on is the Mayweather versus Cotto fight that I'll catch that night. A big thanks to my buddy Kevin Brown for ordering it even though I'm very critical of boxing. I find the sport pretty boring and declining in terms of popularity but obviously the interest is high when a guy like Mayweather is fighting. He's a top draw whenever he fights where it becomes must see to watch him fight. I'll get into UFC first though because I'm far more into that.

I'm a major critic of the Diaz's but Nate looks like a complete bada** while Jim Miller looks like some lonely fisher men.

UFC on Fox is in New Jersey so you could believe that I'm upset that I'm not going. I'm a bit down but with No Way out coming up, Raw, System Of A Down, and Linkin Park coming around the tri state area in the next three months. I'm not that upset that I passed up on this UFC especially since only two fights really catch my interest. Pat Barry can put on some exciting fights but I don't believe that they can actually win them. He can land some shots and a possible submission attempt but other than that, he isn't someone that gets me believing that he can actually win. He'll be going against Lavar Johnson who I'm not too sure about. He's a bit of a new comer so it makes the fight a bit interesting. These two can go on an absolute slugfest and it would be fight of the night if the others disappoint because that's the beauty of the UFC. I'll go with Barry finally winning a fight by decision but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if he tapped out here. The next fight is going to be one sided with rising star Rousimar Palhares against Alan Belcher. Palhares is considered to be one of the fastest rising middleweights in recent history and it's fitting that he's from Brazilian just like Anderson Silva. I expect him to make light work of Belcher who doesn't seem ready to be in a big spotlight like this. I'm going with 2nd round knockout but a first round knockout from Palhares wouldn't surprise me.

The first major fight that I'm looking forward to watching is Johnny Hendricks versus Josh Koshcheck. You have Koscheck who is a phenomenal wrestler that thrives off take downs while Hendricks is a pure striker that looks for the knock out blow. Hendricks put himself on the map of rising welterweights after knocking out Jon Fitch in 12 seconds when Fitch was still the 2nd ranked welterweight fighter in the world. Koscheck is coming off a lackluster performance against Mike Pierce but still got the win against a weaker opponent.  Both guys have such different styles that it will be very intriguing to see who sets the tempo. Hendricks will have the crowd fired up for him because he's someone they can relate to with his small town back ground and his obnoxious beard. Josh Koscheck prides himself being a bad guy and has started to become one of the more hated guys in the octagon. I'm a bit torn on the fight but I'm going to pick Hendricks because he's due for greatness. I think his take down defense will surprise everyone with a wide mess and Koscheck will realize that he's over the hill. I'm going to go with a third round knockout for Hendricks although a decision victory wouldn't surprise me. Koscheck has excellent stamina where he rarely gets knocked out but I can't remember he's gone against someone with such great striking ability. Johnny Hendricks continues his rise to title contention while Koscheck may be become the Rampage Jackson of the welterweights with his decline.

The main event will contain two lightweights with Jim Miller facing Nate Diaz that could have number one contender implications even though that's not official.  This is another fight with an incredible striker in Diaz facing Miller who prides himself on wrestling. This will be a huge clash but I'm going to pick the striker again. It may be strange picking but Diaz is so fast and he isn't going to make the same mistake Nick made against Carlos Condit. While Condit is a striker and doesn't like to wrestle, his game plan worked to perfection with a few strikes then dodging Nick's fury. I'm sure that Nate will look to be very aggressive and not let Jim try to take the fight to the mat because that's where problems will come up. Nate seems to be very confident right now after switching back to lightweight after having conflicts with what weight class to fight in. Miller has an impressive resume but he hasn't beat anyone noteworthy unless possibly Melvin Gullard but that's a stretch. His huge fight against Benson Henderson was mostly one sided with Henderson in control. I'm sure Jim is going to try plenty of takedowns but he'll get caught and it will cost him. Even though it wouldn't shock me to see them go all five rounds, I'm going with Nate to knock him out in the fourth round. I have high hopes for UFC on Fox despite the star power but that doesn't mean the fights can't be exciting. Another small story will be if Nick Diaz will make an appearance to support his brother Nate. The Diaz brothers are highly popular with their crazy trash talking but Nate has been quiet this fight coming around. It should be exciting to see if Nick shows up and hopefully my man Ariel Helwani can get an interview with him even though Nick seems to hate Ariel.

Before I wrap this edition up, I'll get into boxing for a little bit. I'm not really going to catch much of the full card because my knowledge of the fighters is limited. I think its fair to say Mayweather will beat Cotto because he's unbeatable. I'm not a Mayweather hater because I respect his greatness and how dominant he is. I'm aware of his actions and that he can be a jerk but I don't have much hatred toward him when he gets the job done every time he fights. Other than that, I don't have much to say other than hopefully Manny Pacquiao can leave his case and accept the challenge from Mayweather so we can see this dream bout. I think Jon Jones moving to heavyweight by the end of 2012 is more likely than getting that dream boxing fight. That's a damn shame even though I'm not really a boxing fan. It should be a great night though because I love violence and I want to see some faces get smashed. 

Final Word/ Plugs

It's going to be a long weekend full of fun with fighting, basketball, drinking, softball, and a four page paper to do (oh great). I'm wishing all of your respective teams good luck unless you're a Knicks fan because I enjoy the misery of clueless fans. As for my Knick fans that know basketball, well my sympathy is towards you. I do feel bad for the real Knick fans because it must be so frustrating seeing a team play so well in the past month to completely fall to this mediocre play. Hopefully basketball isn't your only sport because that would stink. Hopefully you root for a team like the Mets (alright not really) or the Yankees (greedy jerks, don't do it)! You could just wait for football season to start to even support the champs or Tebow-Mania running wild on you brother from the sidelines (choose number one if you can!). Until then enjoy your weekend and I'll be back next weekend. You can check out the links below to add me on your social networking sites or to simply contact me. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/allenstreck

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.

The Usual Bickering

Hello welcome to another week of The Uncommon One blog where it's mostly sports related but also entertainment related. It could also be life related because I do tend to go on a tangent about things revolving around our society or in my life in general. The edition for today isn't exactly on one main topic because nothing major is going on that I need to cover. The NBA playoffs are the usual big topic but I'm only going to do that once a week where I'm going to cover what is going on in each series and my thoughts on it until at least the conference finals. After that I'm not sure how I'll set up the format especially with the Euro Cup coming around, but believe me I'll be covering all of that good stuff. Today I'll even cover the playoffs a bit but just main stories because their seems to be a great deal of injuries and controversy going on. That's for later, but for now I'm getting into some random pop culture topics. I'm considered to be a pretty funny guy by most people that I know in person or read the blog (although some would hope that I jump off a bridge already). Since I work at a library and I always see these magazines floating around, I can't help but check things out for three reasons only.

1. Any hot celebrity that's showing cleavage is always the number one cause.

2. T.I tells everyone that he's going back to the old T.I so I can go run in a bathroom and blast "You Don't Know Me" in complete joy.

3. Read the first one because I'm struggling to find reasons because I don't care about stories that mostly revolve around Sandra Bullock and how she loves kids.

Anyway today I'll be discussing ten topics that I constantly see in magazines like Life Style Magazine, People Magazine, or U.S magazine basically magazines that cover all the things that is going on in the world of celebrities that I somehow read out of sheer boredom of my job. My job really needs to bring back ESPN magazines, I swear ever since they saw me reading one on the job, they never got a new one again. I'm going to go through the eight most consistent things that I see in magazines and most likely poke fun at them because I can't stand them. I'm usually a guy that does top tens, but my mind will start to explode talking about retarded things after eight It will be some stand up comedy so just follow on.

What I Learn At My Job

It's all about the money anyway.

Angelina Jolie/ Brad Pitt/ Jennifer Anniston/ eight random kids-  Everything always seems to revolve around them in the world of entertainment. One week we see that Angelina found voice mails from Jennifer on Brad's phone. The next week Angelina gets caught binge drinking in a room alone that makes you wonder if she's watching too many Lindsey Lohan movies. The next week shows that Brad really has feelings for Jennifer just like any man with a brain would. I have no idea what's going to happen but it's really captivating information (sarcasm). I don't get what's going on and i'm sick of always hovering the spotlight. I'll always respect Brad Pitt for his great work in Fight Club but other than that, he doesn't interest me. This whole situation never makes sense to me even though it seems like every black person I meet seem to put Angelina high in their woman rankings. So much mystery here that it's giving me a head ache. Please something major happen like Brad makes a Fight Club 2 movie with both women fighting for his love with someone screaming  "What about the children' every minute.(Jim Ross would be perfect for that role). 

Chris Brown/ Rihanna wait this is going on still?-  This has been going on for the past three months now and it really alarms me. If past readers have read my work, I'm a major Chris Brown hater because no man should hit a woman (#ChrisBrownSucks will forever live!). He beat up the woman that reportedly is interested in giving him a second chance. It already pisses me off seeing that jack*** on a magazine cover but now I have to see that the girl he brutally beat up wants to get back with him just makes me even more sick. What happens next they have kids? If that happens, I'll start pulling my hair out and go with the Peter Rosenberg look (I love you Pete!). I don't mind Rihanna because she has legit talent and I can proudly say that at least six of her songs put a smile on my face. All I'm asking is to dump him or make him fight CM Punk in the octagon to become a couple again (or any person from Chicago because that's Punk nation and I'd love to see a fifty-five year old man put Chris Brown in a rear naked choke).

Kardashians because that's all that matters in life- I'm so sick and tired of that entire family but they're on everything these days and have to be mentioned. If you go on Twitter, you probably got every Kim Kardashian joke possible. Khole is the ugly one, Kourtney is the one with the husband that is cheered by men and hated by women, and Kim is a punchline. @OpieRadio and @JimNorton never fail in making those jokes so be sure to follow them if you haven't already (any intelligent person would). They are being exposed for all their faults such as needing money by doing obscure events, marrying decent basketball players, and having too many kids that make people wonder when the youngest two are going to become legal to hit on. Also that Kayne-Kim thing is going on but I'm not getting into that because Kayne is a flat out douche. Hopefully Kris comes out and destroys Kim to pieces that possibly makes Kim so broke that she has to go back to sex tapes. That is likely not going to happen so to end this highly depressing Kardashian post, I leave you with this.

YES

Glee is still on air?- When I had to study for finals a few years ago, my mom would watch Glee in my room and I would get interrupted ten times within the hour by the horrible show. She was so nice that she put up the volume higher to prove how loving she was (my mom is the best, don't you judge her!). In all seriousness though, I have no idea how people watch Glee. It contains characters that over the top characters, old boring women that hate life, obese black girls that always try to get sympathy, and guys that are flat out horrible with their gay tendencies. I'm not sure how the show is still on the air which makes me question about what are people watching these days. The reason I know so much about the show because my mom still shoves it down my head because when I get home from work it's on and she talks to herself out loud about the show. I rather hear my dad talk about the young generation and how were the laziest dirtbags on planet Earth than watch an episode of Glee. Please take this off air and off magazine pages because I don't need to be reminded that this is still a very popular show.

Justin Beiber I hate to make fun of you- I really do dislike hating on Justin because he's the only person I can think of that gets more grief than Kim Kardashian. Everyone seems to hate on the little guy because he's so rich and better than all of us cool guys. He gets to sing and impress all the little girls along with not giving a damn what the community thinks. He just started rapping which shows courage because their plenty of people along with myself that have their hands over their eyes saying "this is what hip-hop has come to". I'm not against people bashing on Justin because I'm sick of his goofy face around magazines I read as well. I'm in the percentile that want to see Eva Longoria smiling like the doll that she is over Justin playing with some dog but that just doesn't work out always. Justin can keep doing his thing as long as he stays away from rap and doesn't sing the nation anthem at any sporting events. I swear if he performs for a Heat or Falcons game, I'll be very ashamed of wearing the proud colors of red and black.

Sandra Bullock boring person of the year-  The only productive thing that I've enjoyed in the long career of Sandra Bullock was with Michael Oher because football is awesome and it was a great story otherwise Bullock does nothing for me. She's very charitable and that sounds all great, but do I need to hear trying to dress like she's 28 again? I swear if you take the eight pounds of make up off of her, she'll be so disfigured that it would make you want to go look at pictures of Demi Moore in 2012 (which is down right sick!). I don't need to see Sandra try to look like she's twenty years younger than she is because her wrinkles are pretty revealing. My old chemistry teacher would rip on Sandra pretty good back in 2010. When he would show us websites to study chemistry on, he would tell us that the computer was actually useful for something other than sports and porn. Some kid made some snarky remark and it wasn't me because my chemistry teacher is an intimidating Polish old man. He would reply saying you would probably hide in your basement in your Scooby Do Pajamas and jerk off to Sandra Bullocks on google. It was so wrong and absurd to say in class, but it was always funny because what 52 year old man would say something like that. Thanks for the material Mr.Chowske and thanks for passing me when I didn't know a damn thing what chemistry was about.

Ashton Kutcher remember when he was the man- Ashton Kutcher was one of the most funniest people on television growing up. I was a huge That's 70 Show fan back in the day and Ashton (Michael was his name on the show) was easily my favorite character. He played the dumb jock to perfection and never failed making me laugh. Also he was the great inventor of Punk'd that still makes people laugh at 3 Am while their drunk or stoned after a crazy night and they can't fall asleep. Now he's on terrible comedy flicks and in a conflicted relationship with Demi Moore. I always hated Two and Half men so the last thing I need to see is Ashton making a stupid smile with that awful co-star and the suddenly skinny kid. I've been greatly saddened by Ashton especially now that he lost the Jesus Christ look. I'm sick of seeing his face looking like he just did three lines with Charlie Sheen on the cover of People's magazine then Demi is on the other side looking like the old hag that she is. Please let me know when Ashton becomes funny and cool again. Also I'm sick of the corny camera commercials that shows him taking pictures of attractive girls. They are not one bit funny and it makes him look like a tool in a bad way, not the good way where he would get owned by Eric's dad for the dumb** that he is. 

Snooki-Mania is still running wild-  This is the last person because I have a splitting headache talking about these people. It may be all fun and games but I have a splitting headache on talking about garbage like this sometimes. Ashton was fun but people like Chris Brown and the Kardashians really make my brain split in half. Snooki recently became pregnant even though she was making covers not too long ago exposing herself in clubs and proving to the world that stupidity can lead to greatness. I'll admit that I enjoy Snooki's mishaps from getting incredibly drunk to get arrested and consistently crying on the show which I was notified from thanks to three hundred and fifty of my Facebook friends out of five hundred (you guys are the best!). Basically all her antics were always hitting magazines because Snooki is a popular figure in the world for some reason. Despite all of this, she still manages to anger me because people actually look up to her as inspiration. This drunk slob is now an inspirational figure to women thanks to having some fashion line and becoming incredibly skinny thanks to drugs. That's inspiration huh, now you wonder why I use lines such as "blame a woman". Snooki has now made me have to look at her annoying face, she now has women wanting to be just like her, and she had to write her own book that was bought by so many because we all want to read about the life of getting incredibly drunk day after day. She even tried to get into wrestling once and she even won a match at Wrestlemania (which is considered the Super Bowl of the company. She even managed to ruin something that I love so very much, thankfully the great people of Atlanta that not only support a great football team in the Falcons but also booed her out of the building. I'm hoping that Snooki really changes with her new kid and can actually start living up to her inspirational billing otherwise she's still going to remain on the butt end of my jokes. I'm done with this topic, I got a headache this is worse than talking about Tim Tebow. 

Inspirational figure!!!

Feel Good Story

I enjoyed doing comedy hour but now I want to get into something awesome. I'm not going to talk about it a lot because the video explains it all. I'm a huge UFC fan like you guys already know, so it makes the video even better. Max Hiler is a 12 year old boy that has suffered through severe diseases. The details are pretty scary and I don't want to fully ruin it. He gets a cool surprise by meeting his favorite fighter Carlos Condit in a really cool story. If you want to smile and possibly have a tear come down your eye, watch the video. People think UFC is full of obnoxious tough guys that don't care about their fans. Carlos is a champion right now yet still takes time out of his day to do this. My hats off to this and one of my favorite  writers in Mauro Ranallo.  

Quick Playoff Thoughts

I'm not breaking down every series right now like i said above. I'm going to talk about the five biggest stories in the playoffs so far. On Friday, I'll be breaking down how every series has gone so far. Until then, here are five things that I want to discuss.

Very tragic

1. Derrick Rose tearing his ACL is the biggest story without a doubt. With this injury, the title hopes for Chicago have been shattered. They may not even make it out of the first round after tonight's performance against the 76ers where Jrue Holiday absolutely dominated tonight. Now many people have criticized the coaching staff about keeping Rose when the Bulls were up by 12 with just a minute left. It could have been avoided but most star players play during that time. The Bulls just started to get a double digit lead after the 76ers made a nice comeback. It could have been avoided but I don't think you can fully criticize the Bulls here. It was an unfortunate mistake and now it looks like that gives the Miami Heat a smooth ride to the finals. Speaking of that series, that brings us to the next topic.

2. The series between the Knicks and Heat have started some fire works early on in the series which should surprise nobody. The only surprise was that the competitiveness of the series has been lacking. I'm well aware that the Knicks were around in Game 2 but they never looked like a serious threat to win in Miami. The big story was Amarie Stoudmire punching glass where a fire extinguisher was placed. He hurt his hand and now looks likely to miss the rest of the series. The Knicks were always hurting with Iman Shumpert (top defender) tearing his ACL but now with Amarie, the chances of even winning a game is slip. The Knicks were done when Shumpert tore his ACL but he's their best defender and a huge key to their recent hot run. Amarie has struggled all season and wasn't going to change the series other than possibly helping winning a game or two. He's a huge part to the Knicks but his value has significantly dropped. It also shows how sad things have gotten since Amarie is a veteran and the Knicks have a pretty young roster. Knick players may look up to him and now just saw what he can do. It's a sad situation and it will likely leave a depressing ending to a very confusing Knicks season.

3. Despite the heroics of Kevin Durant in Game 1, he's had a horrible series so far. The reason why the Thunder have won the first two games in a highly entertaining series is because of Russell Westbrook. Russell has dominated his matchup with Jason Kidd and has made several key plays in the series with not much help. Serge Ibaka had a breakout Game 2 but other than that, it has been a struggle with Durant having problems being defended by Shawn Marion. The series has been my favorite so far in terms of excitement even if it has been only two games but Westbrook has stood out to me the most. He's playing his aggressive style as usual, but he's playing much smarter and playing excellent against Jason Kidd who has been shooting very poorly this series. Dallas is close though and Oklahoma City will need some more help from James Harden, who has been quiet. It has been a struggle so far but you knew Dallas weren't going to be push overs. This series is getting really interesting and things could change fast if Dallas can win their home games.

4. The suspension of Rajon Rondo was really shocking. Rondo is known for a calm guy on the court, but when I saw him bump into the ref it was shocking. I missed the game Sunday so I can't really comment other than based on some highlights.  It was clear that Rondo was having a great game like usual but he didn't get much support from his teammates except Kevin Garnett. The bench did little to nothing which is a common thing when Ray Allen isn't around and Paul Pierce struggled. The loss of Rondo seemed to be huge because he's been their most valuable player this year (Garnett can be argued but not Pierce on that). Rondo seemed to be a huge loss but Celtics won a tough game tonight even though they were aided by a Josh Smith injury which was huge considering how great Josh Smith has been playing this year. It was very shocking to see Rondo do that too but he's always been a humble guy. 

5. The last thing that has been a headliner for the playoffs so far has to be the Clippers comeback. This was another game that I didn't see at all (I'm bummed by that). The Grizzles were all over the Clippers for three quarters based on highlights despite not shooting great. They were just playing suffocating defense on the Clippers and forcing turnovers. Other than Gasol and Conley, nobody was really playing well. The Clippers finally struck and showed that you can't count out star power. Despite a quiet game in the stat column by his standards, Chris Paul was the influential leader in the comeback with Nick Young being a huge help. I knew Young would be a huge upgrade to an average bench for the Clippers and he showed it with 19 points. The bench really stepped up with everyone playing efficient and productive from Kenyon Martin to Eric Bledsoe. They out rebounded the Grizzles and played sound basketball in their huge come back. Blake Griffin didn't have a big game either because it was a team effort that you need to beat the Grizzles on both ends of the court. Another odd stat about the game was how good the Grizzles shot from three because they are among the worst three point shooting teams in the league because they lack sharp shooters. Conley and O.J Mayo went nine for eleven from three point rage and it was a big reason why the Grizzlies were up so big. Clippers showed that it will be a long series and that they're proving to the naysayers that they're wrong. People feel that the Clippers are so overrated and don't know how to play actual team basketball. After that comeback, people may want to watch their choice of words. 

Final Word/ Plugs

That was much longer than I thought but it was very informative and hopefully funny. I'll be back Friday covering all the playoff rounds. I'll probably add some thoughts on UFC and boxing which will be happening Saturday. I'm not a huge boxing fan, but I do realize that Floyd Mayweather is fighting and that usually is must watch material. I'm way more psyched for UFC because that's what I love so much. It may not have big names but this will be a good card and its free on Fox. I'll do a little write up for that until then I'll be back on Friday. Have a good day and I got a few shout outs to give out.

I hope my buddy Billy Faller gets better after he went down with something potentially serious in his back. That's one of my favorite players on the crazy softball team known as the Deadly Alliance. I haven't been able to report much or tell any funny stories because it has been a rough start to the season. It's a long season so hopefully things change. Get better soon Billy because he's well needed for the team and he's probably up there with my favorite guy on the team to crack jokes with. 

The last shout out goes out to Ariel Helwani who actually checked out some of my writing. He's not a full time reader but he actually read my work and thanked me for the kind words that I wrote about him when I met him. The reason he gets a shout out because he just had his first baby and that's huge news. It comes at a good time for him since he's a die hard Knick fan and they are imploding. With his kid, he'll be too happy raising him to get too upset with the Knicks. I'm happy for Ariel and his wife (met her for two minutes, absolute sweetheart) so he gets a mention of course regardless if he's upset that I'm a Heat fan and has toned me up for the next week.

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