The whistles go woooooo!!!!

Have you seen me in the last three years? Have you heard me say "Woo Woo?" If the answers to these questions are not the same, then something is probably wrong.

The "Woo Woo" comes from this video:


Plenty of remixes of this video were made, but I like this one that my buddy Brian sent to me. It's audio from Bubb Rubb and Li'l Sis matched up with Star Wars video.

Guess who got nominated for some college writing award

An article I wrote for BYU's The Daily Universe last year about some suspensions given out during the NBA playoffs was nominated for an award for college newspapers. The Universe staff made the nominations. I found out about this nomination about three months ago, but I assume I didn't win because I haven't heard anything else about it.

Keep reading to see what I wrote. The story was also linked (along with a bunch of other things I wrote) in this post.

Many people at BYU have conflicting feelings when it comes to "the letter of the law" vs. "the spirit of the law." The sports media has been no different lately, shoving this very topic down our throats in recent days.

The reason? The suspensions handed out by the NBA after a hard foul by the San Antonio Spurs' Robert Horry.

Near the end of game 4 of the Spurs-Suns series, Horry hip-checked Phoenix Suns star Steve Nash into the scorer's table on the sideline. A minor melee ensued and, in the process, Suns players Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw left the bench area to either check on their teammate or to participate in a brawl. No sooner did they set foot on the court than one of their coaches pulled them back to the bench.



The coach was aware of an NBA rule that states that any player leaving "the immediate vicinity of their bench" receives a mandatory one-game suspension. The players are also aware of this rule and should be able to exercise enough judgment to avoid hurting their team by forcing the NBA's hand and suspending the players.

As you probably know, Horry was ejected from the game when the foul occurred and was later suspended for two games. Stoudemire and Diaw were suspended for game 5. According to the league rules, the suspensions were justified.

Now what you are reading was written by someone who has openly rooted for the Spurs. However, this is not the point.

If the NBA failed to suspend the players, all you-know-what would break lose. Pundits, reporters and fans alike would rip the league for not sticking to its guns and enforcing the rule that has been strictly upheld for more than a decade.

Granted, nobody wanted to see it play out this way. Teams want to be at full strength against their opponents. The opponents also want the other team to be at full strength so they feel they are beating the best that team has to offer. It's hard to get motivated for a shorthanded opponent.

Not only do both teams "lose" in this situation; the fans also lose. They want to see the best players on the court.

The only suggestion I could make would be for the league to slightly amend the rule, making it possible for some interpretation. As it now stands, the rule is hard and fast, and the league's figurative hands are tied. There really isn't much decision making in the process, just the application of a rule. If league officials meet this off-season, they can alter the rule so that players who do not escalate an altercation situation may go without suspension.

Yes, the Suns were the team hurt more by the suspensions. And yes, a Spurs player, Horry, was most at fault for the incident. But this is not unprecedented. You basketball diehards may remember in 1997 when the Heat's P.J. Brown body-slammed the Knicks' Charlie Ward. Several key Knicks players were suspended for leaving the bench. The Heat ended up coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

So while the suspensions may not have been fair -- much less palatable to the average NBA fan -- they had to take place.

Maybe some rule bending will take care of this problem before next year's playoffs start.

UPDATE: This year NBA team owners had the option to discuss league rule changes; the owners, in effect, decided to uphold the rule requiring a one-game suspension for any player who leaves the vicinity of the bench during an altercation (as reported here).

Reflections on Independence Day - one week later

So, how was your Fourth of July?

The American Independence day is a holiday generally associated with family, fireworks and barbecue. Those are all things I enjoy - and they were all part of my Fourth again this year. However, I believe this holiday means something more. Just as it can be easy to forgot the real purpose of Christmas, it can be easy to forget what Independence day means. It means freedom from tyranny. It means having a nation to call one's own. It means stars and stripes and 13 original colonies that have now exploded and become 50 United States.

Here's an excerpt from The Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

Thank you, Founding Fathers.

Six Months of Marriage!

On Sunday, June 29, Patricia and I reached our six-month anniversary mark, so that week we decided to celebrate in style. It started on Wednesday when we went to the Jordin Sparks concert at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre. They have a whole lineup of concerts, musicals and movies scheduled there for the summer. On Friday, we went to a dance at BYU that had Brazilian music. On Saturday, we found ourselves some good food and dessert and played mini golf. It was good that - despite our busy work schedules - we were able to spend time together, and also spend time with Luciana (Patricia's sister) and her husband. All in all, it was a good week.

Hangin' out at the concert

In the video, Jordin sings "Tattoo" (the girl on the right side of the stage was picked before the show to sing the song with Jordin randomly called up to the stage to sing with Jordin). Sparks closed the concert singing the hit, "No Air" (without her duet partner, Chris Brown). When she and the band were called out for an encore, Jordin sang "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder. During the concert, along with her own music, she also performed covers by Alicia Keys, Tracy Chapman and Pat Benatar. And some dude proposed to his girlfriend on the stage.

Is the U.S. National Team capable of Olympic Gold?

USA men's basketball has announced its roster for the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Here's the roster, listed by their usual NBA position:

1 (point guard) - Jason Kidd, Deron Williams, Chris Paul

2 (shooting guard) Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Michael Redd

3 (small forward) LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Tayshaun Prince

4 (power forward) Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer

5 (center) Dwight Howard

Not bad, eh? One thing: look at the breakdown by position. Is it just me, or does the team seem to be a little thin in the post? Only three big men? Granted, 'Melo is projected as the starting power forward, and LeBron may even see time at the 4 spot, allowing Boozer to get playing time at center, but don't we need more than 3 true post players? ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan pointed out the same thing here and here. What if one of the bigs gets injured? What about foul trouble? Will this doom the American side?

On the other hand, there probably isn't a team in the tournament that does not have a major issue confronting them. The following nine teams have already booked their tickets for Beijing: Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain and USA.

The latter four teams and Argentina could be in contention for medals. However, the Argentines may not even have their usual complement of stars at the Games; Manu Ginobili's presence is questionable because of an ongoing ankle problem. Pepe Sanchez, the team's starting point guard in several tournaments, and Walter Herrmann, a valuable reserve on the gold-medal winning 2004 Olympic squad, are reportedly retiring from the national team.

Spain, the 2006 World Champion, might have injury concerns as well. Starting power forward Jorge Garbajosa may be unable to play because of a leg injury. Lithuanian center Zydrunas Ilgauskas was denied permission by his NBA team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to play in the Olympics. The Cavs cited injury risk and insurance policy issues as reasons for the denial.

Three more teams will emerge from a qualifying tourney held in Greece, rounding out the Olympic field of 12 teams. The tournament features the following pairings for group play:

Group A: Brazil, Greece and Lebanon

Group B: Cape Verde, Germany and New Zealand

Group C: Canada, Korea and Slovenia

Group D: Cameroon, Croatia and Puerto Rico

Assuming they qualify for the Olympics, Greece could be another contender for a medal. They hauled in the silver medal from the 2006 World Championships.

So you want a post on Kurt Rambis? You've got a post on Kurt Rambis!

At this blog, we try to give the people what they want (and by "people," I usually mean me). And the people (not me, in this case) asked for a post on ex-NBA player and current Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis. Now, I recognize the request was mostly made in jest, but apparently your request is my command. You know the saying: be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it!

When I was in seventh grade, I was co-creator of something called "The Rambis Files™." It was a collection of drawings and writings dedicated to the one and only Kurt Rambis. We waxed eloquent about how many teams he played for, how every NBA superstar copied Kurt's style to achieve success, and even created a name for Kurt's (imaginary) sports drink, Rambis-ade™.

Kurt could have used some Rambis-Ade here.

Lakers, Suns and Hornets. Where's the Kings photo?

Apparently, there are many out there who share our sense of fondness for the man we nicknamed Kurt "The Flirt."

There are T-shirts...

...and Web sites devoted to the NBA champion (I almost wish I had created this Web site).

Although Rambis didn't lead the league in scoring 10 times like Michael Jordan, he still left his mark on the Association. In fact, Kurt's superstar teammate, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, stated in his autobiography, "Magic's Touch," that Kurt's role on the Lakers was just as important as Johnson's role.
If anything defined Kurt on the basketball court - aside from the long hair and black glasses - it was toughness. In fact, The Flirt was so tough, the refs only gave him a two-shot foul when he was closelined by Celtics star Kevin McHale on this play:



Kurt was so tough, the character "Rambo" must have been named after Rambis. Kurt was so tough that the refs kind of let that clothesline go unpunished. In today's NBA, that play would have been a flagrant foul (two shots and the ball) and possibly a flagrant 2 (two shots, possession of the ball and an automatic player ejection). But times have changed, and so has Rambis.Gone are the long hair and black glasses, in favor of more conservative locks and spectacles, but the memory of Rambis the player lives on in the hearts of true basketball fans worldwide.

Word of the Day: Bloggist

blŏg·gĭst

definition: one who blogs - emphasis on the word one.

example of usage: Sam is the world's first bloggist; the rest are all bloggers.

Things that make you go Hmmm?

I've seen and heard a few things recently that made me go Hmmm or do a double take. One was when I found out the New Kids on the Block were making a comeback. I am not kidding.

Although they have updated their wardrobe slightly.

Really I think these guys have humiliated themselves enough earned enough money to ride off into the sunset and never be seen again.

No. 2 headscratcher: Last week I was at a city celebration/carnival with Patricia and we saw a dog with clothes on. That picture is not the dog we saw, but that was the closest looking picture I could find to what we saw: a little dog with some type of jacket on - in warm weather - while being pulled around by a boy in his early teens (I don't think I would have been caught dead with something like that, especially when I was that boy's age).

The other thing that struck me as odd was a sign I saw on a department store on my way to work. It mentioned a "half-yearly" sale. Half-yearly sale? Since when do department store shoppers have insufficient vocabulary to understand the term "semi-annual?"

Maybe since this happened:

That could be it.

Happy Fathers' Day!

Happy Fathers' Day to everyone, and especially to those of you who are fathers!

What is Humility?

Sometime in the past few weeks, I caught myself thinking about what it means to be humble. I wondered if asking someone who is really good at something - say, painting - if they are good at it, would they be "un-humble" if they answered yes. It would seem that acknowledging his skill may be a prideful thing to do. Also, most people would say if someone calls himself humble, he is clearly not humble. I, on the other hand, can't agree completely with that line of thinking. While we can all agree that humility is found in not lifting yourselves above others or having an arrogant attitude, it is also not based on saying you are a lowly, filthy worm. I remember reading a quote from Hakeem Olajuwon, saying "humility demands the truth." If that's true, the excellent painter would "admit" he/she is good at what they do.

Now, let's take it a step further. If you asked Jesus if he were humble, what would his answer be? (take a moment to think about that one...)
I think He would find a really wise way to answer affirmatively. Instead of saying, "yes," maybe he would say "I gave my life for you," or "I descended below all." Maybe he would pause and let your question sink in until you knew the answer without Him telling you.

What do you think?