Great Comment Messageboards #2

This is not so much a comment as much as it is an embarassing testament to the understanding of the English language.  The article is entitled 'Looser Gun Law, other new state laws start Tuesday'.  The comment is as follows:

By Kahne

Jun 30, 2008 9:32 AM | Link to this

"looser"? Must mean the AJC is concerned the Perps are loosing some advantage over their victims. Now they will have to wonder if their potential victim is armed.

Not only does Kahne impress us with his use of 'Perps' as if he is in law enforcement (let's hope this isn't the case), but he manages to show he has no idea of the difference between lose and loose.  And to prove that he has no vocabulary skills even further, he manages to use loosing (a word?) in a sentence....yet these are the folks who want guns....scary to me.

Technorati tags: Grammar, Lack of Grammar

Screw College, I'll Travel

High School to NBA . . . via overseas? That's one scenario for Brandon Jennings, a top incoming freshman at the University of Arizona. 

Instead of abiding by the NBA's 'One Year Removed from High School' rule and being forced into college ball, this prep star is thinking why not get paid for a year and then see what the NBA has to offer.  And Xpinionated says 'Go for it'.

In a country where the majority of citizens never attend college, I find it preposterous that so many folks use their own selfish reasons to insist that prep basketball players attend college for at least a year before getting entering the NBA.  These people fear a decline in the level of college basketball while at the same time touting the importance of getting a college education.  Give me a break, most college basketball fans didn't attend the college for which they cheer and they definitely did not throw their support to the college because of it's Entomology department.

In a country where we will give an 18 year old an assault rifle and send them to the other side of the world to fight a war for a reason they barely understand, I find it preposterous to suggest an 18-year-old does not have the right to forgo college if he so desires.

If it were anything other than a pro sport (in my mind, even if it were pro baseball or hockey), folks would have no problem with an 18 year old forgoing college to make his way in the world legitimately.  College is not for everybody.  And though studies show those who attend college make more money, there are exceptions -- and one of those exceptions is the sporting world. 

If a kid has god-given talents and gifts that can be used to secure his place in this world as well as his family's place, why should we force him to provide those talents to an institution for an education that he doesn't necessarily value?

Technorati tags: Brandon Jennings, NBA Draft, College Basketball

Fascinatingly Odd

Isn't odd how many folks on the internet will read an internet story, take the time to sign in or register on the website, take more time to leave a comment and the comment says something to the effect of 'I don't care about this topic' but with a lot more words?  If you don't care, why waste the time, energy, and space to tell us?  Why not just not care?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Xpinionated LIVE 6/26/2008

Technorati tags: Kentucky Gunman, Zimbabwe, Mugabe, Tsvangirai

Kentucky Gunman

Yet another coward with no moral fabric and little social skills gets a gun.  I am really getting fed up with the stories of people opening fire over what usually amounts to trivial issues.  I'm even more fed up with cowards such as these 'turning the gun on themselves' after their dastardly deed. 

In my opinion, if you're 'man' enough to shoot someone, and man enough to boast to your girlfriend that you're going to kill your boss, then you should be man enough to face the families you've destroyed, to face the consequences you've earned. 

<---Face of a coward -- and yeah, I'm intentionally not putting his name here for he deserves no fame or recognition.

 

 

Zimbabwe Elections

Every time I think U.S. politicians are some of the lowest of the low, situations such as the current Zimbabwe elections reminds me of how lucky I am.  Do you realize that people are being killed as a means of deterring votes for the challenger Tsvangirai.   And we in Georgia are worried about Voter I.D. laws? 

It saddens me sometimes to think of how people in other countries live and fear -- fear of doing things to make a better life (hopefully) for themselves.  It angers me to think that the incumbent Mugabe has run a country through fear for this long yet my country, who often feels it must police the world, has done nothing to step in -- not enough oil I guess.....

Shaq's startin' again

Shaquille O'Neal has again lost the respect of me and probably most of Lakers nation.  He apparently performed a rap freestyle dissing Kobe and blaming Kobe for his divorce -- 4 years after Kobe's ill advised mutterings. 

Let's dissect this shall we?

1. Let's make it absolutely clear:  Shaquille O'Neal has again (as has been the case 99% of the time) started with Kobe.  So when everyone says Kobe drove Shaq out of L.A., once again note who started whining and crying.  Notice who started talking shit first -- The Big Nobody.
2. Shaquille mentions the Lakers loss to the Celtics in the Finals saying something to the effect of 'Kobe couldn't win it without me.'  And Shaquille fails to mention that he rode Dwayne Wade's coattails to his only non-Kobe championship.    He also fails to note that his team didn't make it out of the first round.  Or that Kobe and the Lakers defeated the team that ran through them so easily.
3. In a quote to the media, Shaquille says something to the effect of 'Nothing personal, it's a freestyle, it's what M.C's do.'  Someone, anyone, please tell this 300 pound mass that he's a lot of things -- a has been, a sheriff, a bad actor -- but an M.C. he is not.  He has never been.  Exhibit A:  'I'm a horse, Kobe ratted me out, that's why I'm getting a divorce.'  huh?  wtf? horse, divorce, what?
4. Blaming divorce on someone ratting you out - no matter how anti-man law snitching on a man's sex life may be - is really not sensible.  Don't blame Kobe for your divorce...blame your dick!
Technorati tags: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Freestyle, Rapper

Oh and. . .

LAKER FAN TIL i DIE....AND THEN SOME MORE AFTER THAT

Next Season

lost to a better team

Devin's Favorite Part of the Game

DSCF2016

Originally uploaded by Xpinionated

I promise you, Devin just insisted that I take this photo...and all the others too!!

Down 3-2 and Holding Steady

As the series heads back to Boston, the Lake Show finds itself in a 2-3 hole in the quest for a title.

There are several problems that I've seen with our game this series.  Our lack of consistent aggression is our number one problem.  Our inability to play a complete game has cost us one if not two games.

Reading the internet (something I should seriously consider giving up), you would think that the Lakers are some last place team that's lucky to be in the finals.  All the talk is of the vaulted Celtic defense (a bit touchy grabby for my taste but I'm not an official).  Oddly enough, though our screen and roll defense leaves much to be desired, many of the stats that are a reflection of the defense are not that underwhelming. 

Lastly, there's a simple statement I want to make for all the newly diehard Celtics fans claiming greatest basketball franchise -- the Celtics are relevant every twenty years, the 60's, 80', and currently.  The Lakers have never gone 22 years without a championship......the Lakers have played for a championship in every single decade. 

Let's go Lake Show...let's win Game 6 and move on from there!

Technorati tags: Finals, Lakers, Celtics

And the NBA wonders why college ball is more popular?

38 free throws for Boston, 10 for the Lakers.  Result?  17 point differential in free throws made.  There is home court officiating, and then?  Then?  Then there is downright travesties.

I've watched the NBA for 24 years.  Through every NBA conspiracy I've held on to a belief that the game is not rigged.  My faith in this is not shaken.  Do I think we will see such a favoritism in L.a?  Not at all.  At the very most, I expect maybe a 10 point free throw surplus in favor of the Lakers.  That would be normal home cookin' as they say.  But tonite was an embarrassment for the officiating crew.

One of my boys who is also a Lakers fan said that (before our comeback in the fourth) our defense was porous.  In fact, he believed our the foul calls were a result of our poor play.  I disagree.

Poor play?  The Lakers had 18 points off turnovers, the Celts had 19.  The Celts had 14 points on the fastbreak while the Lakers managed 10.  Points in the paint saw the Lakers with a 31 to 30 advantage.  So far the only overwhelming stat in favor of the Celts is field goal percentage , 53% to 49%.  And that's not really overwhelming.  Rebounding?  The Celts had a plus one advantage.

So where was this game determined.  With 83 shots and just shooting a shade under 50%, the only  logical guess is the free throw line.  Am I arguing that the Lakers didn't commit their share of fouls?  Nope.  I'm saying that the difference lies in referees perception of what teams are known for.

Since there are no regular readers of this blog, I'll openly admit that I have brought this point up in previous posts, most notably in the Pistons/Lakers Finals a few years back.  My theory is this:  when a team is known to be a "physical" team, they are allowed to reach and grab much more freely than a team not known for a physical style of play.  This is ridiculously unfair.  Even more unfair to the team abiding by the spirit of Naismith basketball (you know the one, basketball is a non-contact sport officially speaking), is that if the non-physical team attempts to become more physical, they get the whistle blown.  Effectively, you're telling one team it is completely fine to push, grab, and reach while telling the other team it's a foul.

At this point, given our fourth quarter effort, I am only slightly discouraged.  I would have loved to see us take one of these games in Boston as I love winning a series on your home floor if the opportunity is there.  Now, assuming three wins in L.A., we have to win what would be an enormously intense game on the Celts floor.  The disadvantage in that is the physicality allowed in a game six or seven will be increased.  If the refs continue to allow one team to be physical while blowing the whistle on another team . .. . you get my point so I won't be a dead horse.

Sadly, right now I'm not even sure I want to watch a game with my boy which is a sad state of affairs.  The way the conversation went, I was made to feel like my opinion didn't count, almost as if he knows more of basketball than I do.

In any case, Kobe, Lamar, Pau, Derek, Vladimir, Sasha, Jordan, Luke, Trevor, DJ, and the rest of the crew have some work to do.  As a bleeder of Purple and Gold, I know it can be done.

Go Lakers!!!!!!!!

Update:  To further enhance my point, here's what foxsports.com analyst Charley Rosen had to say:

The Lakers' defense was porous, and their offense was virtually obliterated by Boston's defense. Yet there was another significant dimension to the game.

Within the first couple of minutes, Perkins and then Garnett were tooted for committing moving screens. Both of these calls were highly questionable, and even though they favored the Lakers, they certainly boded ill for the visitors. When the visitors get the benefit of blatantly bogus fouls early in a game, the standard operating procedure tends to be that the refs will shaft them from then on. And that's exactly what happened.

A pair of phantom fouls on Kobe ruined the Lakers' first-half rotation, and at the intermission Boston had attempted 19 free throws to L.A.'s two (one of these being a technical foul on KG). After three quarters the margin was 26-to-4, and the final total was 38-to-10.

This disparity was even more puzzling since the Lakers' game-plan called for them to constantly drive the ball to the hole. And several replays showed exactly how biased and inconsistent the refs' decisions truly were.

No surprise, then, that the Lakers were distracted, annoyed and even outraged all game long. And rightly so.

Technorati tags: NBA Finals, Lakers, Celtics, Referees, Physical Play

Game 1 Loss in the Finals

The Lake Show fell 98-88 to the Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. 

The game seemingly turned when Paul Pierce faked an injury (and I will believe it is a faked injury until proven otherwise) leaving the game by being carried off the floor to a wheel chair.  After a few minutes he returns with a brace and a barely noticeable limp.  The Lakers, however, seem to have lost that edge when he appeared to be out and the Celtics received an adrenaline rush upon his return at one point outscoring us 28 - 16 after Pierce's return.

 

Initially, I wanted to remain somewhat indifferent about the injury.  But then watching Pierce flail anytime someone got close to him took my already waning respect for him to the bottom.  At one point, he throws his head back and reaches for his eye as if he's been hit in the eye.  Blinking and blinking.  The replay shows, he wasn't touched, not only not touched in the face, not touched at all.  He has become a soccer player.

Last night's loss can also be attributed to horrible rebounding.  The Celtics had far too many second chances.  On top of that, our shots weren't falling so there was a recipe for disaster.  And it certainly didn't help that there were at least three calls that the refs simply blew that replays showed no foul occurred.  The disgusting part was that not only did the replays show no foul occurred, the plays themselves were so conclusively clean that they couldn't have even been 'go either way' calls. 

Game 2 is Sunday.  Here's to hoping our shots start to drop and we man the boards a bit better.  Watching the game, I feel like we are the better team.  It's just time to prove it.

Why I blog?

I sometimes wonder why I blog.  I see other folks blogs and wonder how they became so popular.  How did they get such a loyal fanbase?  Then I tell myself that I don't do it to gain a fanbase.  It would be nice, no doubt, to have or to know that somebody out there has found Xpinionated other than the scammers who try to spam my comments.  But after six years, I guess I do  do it for myself.

I do feel as if I have something to add.  Although, I may not have a particular theme with Xpinionated (which is probably part of the reason the readership is low), I do have an opinion that I would like to be heard.  Though, I don't blog as much lately, I still want to be heard.

Even if I wanted a theme, I'm not sure what theme that would be.  As witnessed by the decline in my Lakers and Redskins/Hokies blogs, even the things I love I don't always feel like talking about. So to put a theme to this blog would mean I would have to damn near be obsessing over something....I'm too old to obsess or at least too old to actually put any kind of extra effort into my obsessing!

MegaFest moving to . . . . South Africa

I'm not a T.D. Jakes fan.  Or Creflo Dollar or any televangelist.  I think most, oops I mean all, are using religion as a money making machine which doesn't sit right with me.  But this story caught my eye.  The formerly Atlanta based Megafest Christian get together is moving to South Africa in 2008.  Apparently, folks found traveling to Atlanta and lodging expenses too much of a burden.  In response to that, Jakes is moving the money machine, I mean get together, to . . . wait for it . . . . South Africa?!?!

This makes sense how?  In addition to getting together for some worship -- on another continent, Jakes' organization is also going to be offering 11-day tours around the same time as the get together for five to six grand per person.  And this doesn't strike anyone as fishy, odd, conniving, or scammish?

"When you're the mother of a couple of kids, it's not something that you can do on an annual basis, " said Williams, who managed MegaFest for Jakes. "We want to be sensitive to the needs of our delegates."

Sadly, the quote above is referring to the good ol' days when the get together was in Atlanta......

Technorati tags: T.D. Jakes, Megafest, Religious Scams

Devin Finds His Shadow

2008 WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS!!!

The game started off ugly.  Very Ugly.

Ridiculously ugly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the Lakers matured in this series right in front of our eyes.  The development of poise is a beautiful thing to watch.  The evolution of leadership was something to behold. 

In a first quarter  dominated by the hot shooting Spurs, adjustments had to be made.  The double teaming of Tim Duncan was leading to wide open jumpers for Michael Finley, Bruce Bowen, and the rest of Spurs' perimeter squatters.  Our rotations had to get better, we needed to force cross court passes that would allow our defense to rotate and recover.  And on the offensive side of the ball, we needed to stop settling for jumpers. 

Somewhere in the second quarter, we got it.  Thanks to Jordan Farmar's spark of three straight buckets, the offense started getting aggressive going to the hope and getting paint points.  Along with getting out of our scoring quagmire, our defensive intensity picked up. 

By mid third quarter, that feeling of being a team of destiny for this series started to settle in.  Loose balls were rolling to the purple and gold.  Amazingly, we managed to get the Spurs in the penalty with more than a minute left in the quarter.  You just felt it.

Now we need four more victories.  We get a week off.  Rest and prepare.....

Technorati tags: Western Conference Finals, Lakers, Spurs

GTAIV = A Clockwork Orange?

In this article from The Record, a newspaper (used loosely in this case) in Stockton, CA, aggression is being attributed to the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. 

Stockton's Mark Wellis, 19, said he was involved in an altercation a week after he purchased "Grand Theft Auto IV." At the time he noticed that he had become less sensitive to violence.

Wellis doesn't completely blame the game for his violence, but it did affect him.

 

So after 19 years of life, one week with GTAIV and the kid is no longer sensitive to violence?  Wait there's more....

"My son Peter was never really aggressive, but once he got into video games, 'GTA' being one of them, he started to push, hit, talk back, and just become a different person," said Stockton parent Greg Within, 46.

Does Peter sound like he is 17 or older?  I ask because GTAIV is rated Mature meaning you have to be 17 or older to purchase the game.  Seems to me like Greg Within may need to look 'within' for the root of the kid's new personality (pun intended).

Critics seem to want to paint this video game and others like it as the source of the debauchery of the world.  They seem to think that if we can reduce or remove this 'influence' entirely, the world would be a better place.  But maybe, just maybe, the world would be a better place with fewer critics and politicians...just maybe.

Technorati tags: GTAIV, Grand Theft Auto, Violent Games

A different look on illegal immigrants

Here's an interesting take on the 'jobs Americans won't do' stance of those supporting illegal immigrants from CNN's Glenn Beck:

The Journal article offered an example of a couple that sells food at fairs around California each summer. They say that because of the H-2B visa shortage most of their seasonal employees aren't able to enter the country.

So why don't they just hire Americans instead? Good question. Her answer? "This is a hard job."

I find it pretty hard to believe that there aren't a few college students who wouldn't want to drive around California and work outdoors all summer, but let's assume that's true. Let's even assume that none of the other 1.1 million Californians who were unemployed as of April are interested in the job either. Isn't anyone wondering why?

Well I'm not a labor consultant, but I am a thinker. Maybe the problem isn't that the job they're offering is "too hard," maybe it's that the wages they're offering are "too low."

No one paints the undersides of bridges for fun, they do it for the money. That's how capitalism works.

How capitalism does NOT work is when we collectively look the other way as companies exploit illegal labor for their own benefit.

The unspoken truth is that these businesses don't hire illegal aliens because they can't find American workers, they hire illegal aliens because they don't want American workers. And it has nothing to do with wages.

 

Technorati tags: immigration, low wages, unemployment, visas

Conference Finals

After a tough series against a very physical and game Utah Jazz squad, the Lake Show is preparing to square off against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.  It's only right that if the Lakers go on to win a championship this season, they should have to go through the Spurs to do so. 

The key factors going into game one:

1. Kobe's health:  He says he's 100%, that's good enough for me.
2. Manu Ginobili:  Starter?  Bench?  Does it matter?  Containing him will be one of the keys to our defensive effort.  I'm not as worried about Tony Parker as we are coming off a long series against Deron Williams who I would place ahead of Tony Parker in terms of causing defensive problems.  And D-fish held his own against D-Will so the focus in my mind will be Manu.
3. Pau vs Tim:  After facing a Utah team without a true center, I wonder how Pau will matchup with Tim Duncan.  On one hand, I don't think Tim is nearly as physical as Carlos 'Bruiser'.  On the other hand, Tim is better.  However, this year's playoffs have seen Tim disappear for stretches. 
4. Role Players:  Starter for starter, the Lakers look good in this series.  Even going down the rotation, I give the Lakers the edge.  The wild card?  Experience.  This Spurs team knows how to win regardless of circumstances.  Keeping the Bowens and Finleys under control will go a long way to reaching the Finals. 

Sorry

I have been rather scarce here lately.  No particular reason.  Just haven't had that urge to get my type on.  But for nearly six years I have made at least one post to Xpinionated so I gotta keep the tradition going.  So how about a simple update....

Had a great time with Devin, Mrs. Xpinionated, and some friends of ours at the Georgia Force game a couple of weekends ago. 

Was in the emergency room this past Monday morning with the worse asthma attack I've had since I was five or six years old.  But the Prednisone that I'm on now has me feeling ridiculously good breathing wise...

sorry Devin won't sleep (and hasn't been for the past week) so the writing stops now....

Post Game Four Thoughts

Technorati tags: Lakers, NBA Playoffs

The Utah Jazz have tied the series at 2-2 with a an overtime victory today.  Here are some abstract thoughts:

• If the refs hand out the same home team calls in L.A. as they did in today's game, I will be satisfied.
• There were several calls that either were displayed differently on my TV or that the announcers felt obliged to agree with the refs:

• The block on Luke Walton from behind was a great hustle play. . . however. . . since when is legal to go through someone's body to get the ball -- head and all?
• The foul called on Sasha when he blocked Deron Williams shot from behind was ludicrous.  Even more ludicrous was the play by play of Hubie Brown....'got him on the forearm'?  He said this during the replay showing nothing of the sort.
• Why exactly is Matt Harpring getting all star treatment in terms of foul calls?

Two games in Utah, two losses.  The upside?  Each game was lost as opposed to us being beaten.  Game three: turnovers.  Game Four: foul shots and foul calls -- could have made the foul shots.  And though the refs had a horrendous outing, we need to stop swiping without intent because the refs are making prejudicial calls.

Kobe's back spasms could be telling.  Needed him to facilitate the last two minutes of the game instead of forcing shots.  I would have preferred the focus shifting to Odom and Fish with Gasol and Bryant looking to play decoy and man the boards.

Game 5 Wednesday at Staples Center.