Mayweather/de la Hoya

I'm not a huge boxing fan, but I enjoy a good, legitimate boxing match. The line on this one is Mayweather -200, which in my opinion is free money. There is no way in the world Mayweather loses that fight. First, de la Hoya is a little past his prime. His window for being in his prime was small because he made a ton of money in boxing, and really doesn't need to keep fighting. As soon as he became a promoter, he could hang it up. Other fighters hang on longer because they are just 'rapper' rich. The drive nice cars, but need that next fight in order to pay the rent therefore, the do everything in their power to remain at a hight level, knowing that if they can't fight, they'll end up shooting craps on the corner with Sprewell and JR Rider. Second, Sugar Shane dominated the Golden Boy with his speed, and I think the Mayweather may be faster the Mosley.

Its a great fight for de la Hoya as a promoter, but its probably not a great choice for him as a fighter.

NBA

Why are the playoffs so much better in the NBA? There is such a huge difference between the quality and competition of the NBA playoffs compared to the regular season. I find the regular season to be barely watchable. Half the players look like they are dogging it, and the ones who are trying are just fighting to stay with a a team. But once the playoffs start everything changes. The best players lay everything on the line and the coaches leave them in nearly the entire game.

So, if you made me the commissioner of the NBA, I'd make two fixes. One, I'd do get the owners to conduct a lockout to get guaranteed contracts out of the NBA. The Vince Carter's and Vin Bakers of the world shouldn't get paid millions to ride the pine. Second, I'd shorten the season, by a month, but keep the number of games the same. The teams would play more games in a week. This way, the best teams would really rise to the surface. Team work and depth would be crucial because of the limited amount of rest. I think the season would be much more enjoyable.

But until then, I'll continue to ignore the regular season and wait for the playoffs.

BBQ ribs

I'm a huge ribs guy. I love them. We'll, I love dry ribs that have been slow cooked over an open fire. And they have to be pork. Sorry Texas, but beef ribs are OK, but its not really the same. They just don't have the flavor and texture that pork has.

Memphis in my mind has the perfect ribs going on. Dry with sauce on the side, with a spicy rub and some smokey flavor. If your ever in Memphis, which I recommend visiting even though the segregation is unbelievable (that's another blog), you need to visit Rendezvous in downtown Memphis. The place is simply incredible. I'm not really eloquent enough to describe the atmosphere of the place. Its a window less cave with red and white checkered table clothes, old black men as waiters, and beer served in short handled mugs. The food is so good, I dream about it after I leave. The last time I was in Memphis we ate dinner there, went out for a few drinks and on our way out of downtown I had to stop and get a slab for the rode. Its the Mecca of all things pork.

Well, I've tried to make my own mecca in my backyard. I've been getting more and more adventurous on my Weber grill. The ribs are turning out good, but the quality of pork available in a Muslim country leaves much to be desired. Its sort of like buying a toothbrush at a gas station, there is only one choice. I've got the wood chips, dry rub and slow cooking, but I haven't been able to match the flavor of a Rendezvous slab. But don't worry, I'll succeed.

An intelligent point of view

http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/66339.html

I know this is the third time I've written about Imus, but it just won't seem to go away. I really surprised this became such a big deal for 2 reasons; his show sucks ass. It's hardly watchable. His skits and jokes are from a different generation. His career is based on the fact that he was popular in New York city for a period of greater than 5 years. As Barbara Streisand and Liesa Menili proved, that's all it takes.

Secondly, 'nappy headed ho's' is hardly the worst thing I've heard a black women called in the last 6 months.

Click on the link, and read Whitlocks article. If you don't know who he is, he's a top 5 sports journalist in the US, who was black balled by ESPN (not a great career move). If he wrote in LA or NY, he would be bigger than Steven A. Smith by a mile. He's far more intelligent, and doesn't 'act a fool'.

I stand corrected

What was I thinking, saying that there was a double standard in terms of what Imus said about some basketball players. Snoop Dogg set me straight

""It's a completely different scenario. (Rappers) are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about hoes that's in the 'hood that ain't doing shit, that's trying to get a nigga for his money. These are two separate things. First of all, we ain't no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC going hard on black girls. We are rappers that have these songs coming from our minds and our souls that are relevant to what we feel. I will not let them muthafuckas say we are in the same league as him. Kick him off the air forever."

My argument just went down the toilet with that gem.

Who listens to Imus anyways?

Can the press make a bigger deal out of nothing? If they are up in arms over 'nappy headed ho's', why aren't they going absolutely bonkers over basically every rap cd produced over the last 15 years? To be honest, I don't think the phrase nappy headed ho's is really that racial. But what it is, is a statement that shows that public opinion is two faced. If Chris Rock called the Rutgers women a bunch of nappy headed lesbian n***ers, we'd probably laugh our ass off. But if a white guy does it, its not only not funny, but its some how racist?

Do you want to know whats racist? Substandard schools, government subsidised housing that benefits the landlords far more than renter, the complete lack of drug abuse counseling, and lack of US political and military involvement in areas where the residents don't look like us.

If you are listening to Imus in the morning, you're either an employee of NBC, or to cheap to spring for Sirius satellite radio (worth every penny).

2 places that are beyond intervention

What 2 places in the world is it the most dangerous for a white guy to wear an American flag t-shirt? The list of dangerous places is long, and would include places Mogadishu and Sierra Leone. But I'm pretty sure that right now, the two places I'm sure I wouldn't wear a flag t-shirt is downtown Tehran and any where Muqtada al-Sadr and his followers are planning a pot luck.

In Tehran they will capture you and put you on the governments tv channel in an attempt drum up propaganda. In Al-Sadr's world, it could get much worse. Al-Sadr has no international community to keep his movement in check. His followers are motivated by the death of those he opposes whereas Ahmadinejad builds his support by taking pot shots against the west, carefully walking the line of what is acceptable. A direct attack against the US or its interests would most likely be met with a substantial response.

But what type of response is their for Al-Sadr and his crew? No matter what the administration might tell us about the success of the surge, there is nothing we can do. Well unless we can resurrect Saddam and put him back in power. That's right, the only way the US can be successful is to go back to the status quo.

I may have said this before, but the US messed with a good thing; the construct of a nation state. Now the US is stuck in an unwinable conflict trying unproven techniques, with no clear time frame. This won't end well.

MN Sports Update

With the start of the baseball season, I thought it would be a good time to cover MN sports in general. Obviously because I'm a Jets fan, I won't be covering the queens but otherwise we'll touch all the bases.

T-Wolves:

Is KG leaving? I wouldn't blame him. But on the other hand, his billion dollar contract really has hamstrung the franchise over the last 6 years. Well that, and the fact we have the worst GM in basketball. Realize we lost 4 first round draft picks because we wanted to keep Joe Smith so badly. Sam and Spree aren't walking through the door, so its probably time for the KG era to end in MN. The wolves should do everything to mirror the Suns. If they stick money anywhere, it needs to be in a play making point. Everything else is available on the open market. There seasons over and I really expect some action to happen in the front office. Either KG or McHale won't be here next year.

Gopher football:

I am super pumped about the future. Not necessarily this year, but the next 5. The move to the spread option is not going to happen over night. I played high school football in MN, and there is not a huge pool of talent. A young QB (whom ever it is) and a young coach, doesn't equal 10 wins in the big ten. I'd be shocked if we snuck into a bowl game.

Gopher Basketball:

If I'm pumped about the future of football, I'm super pumped for basketball. Tubby Smith is the biggest name in the history of coaches in MN sports. Period. I don't think they win it all, but I'd expect them to be a top 4 team in the big ten within the next 5 years. And if there are no endemic infractions, that a really good thing.

Gopher Hockey:

Seriously disappointing. So much talent and so little results. Even though were not in the frozen four, we are still one of the top 4 teams in college hockey. The tournament is set up by 4Th graders, who somehow put the gophers and ND in the same bracket. Either way, its a disappointing year for the gophers. Depending on NHL departures, the gophers will be back full bore next year.

MN Twins:

They have a nice little 3-0 start. If Ramon Ortiz can pitch the way he did last night half the time he goes out, the twins will be near the top of the division. Baseball is a long season, but the twins really have it together this year if Ortiz, Boozer and Ponson can pitch well. We don't need Cy Young efforts, just 12-15 wins and 6 1/3 a game from them. Our ace and bullpen will do the rest. I'm a little, well a lot shaky about Rondell White. But Kubel and Lew Ford can pretty much provide everything he does except for the upside. White has the ability to go off for 100 rbi's and 28 hr's. It may be hard to believe, but he has put together some great little runs, but has a hard time staying healthy. This could be his healthy year.

360 problems

My Xbox 360 went tits up the other day. I had just received my first new game in 6 months when the system totally froze up. Resetting only brought 3 flashing red lights, which after some research, I came to find out meant a hardware problem.

I ran through the checks, even though they are nothing more than checking the cables and restarting the system, and called the XBOX help line. After an annoying automated phone system kept calling me 'dude', I spoke to a customer service agent, who amazingly didn't sound like he was from India, and he gave me an address to send my system back to and have it repaired under warranty.

Its absolutely terrible timing. I had planned on not taking any classes for the next month or so, and planned on becoming a master of Gears of War. Now I'm stuck with no video game system, and no new games for my PC.

What am I supposed to do now, read?