BACK to the future...

With obvious more important issues developing around the world I'll merely touch on this briefly...

Lemme start by saying - i'm not mad that Miami won (moreso that Dallas Lost)...I like Shaq - and Wade is incredible...good for them...BUT,

That was one of the absolute most horrendously officiated series in the history of the NBA - all six games were obscene...the final phantom foul on Wade in game 5 is still unbelievable...BUT when he throws a forearm into Dirk to push off and get separation towards the end of game 6 AND DIRK gets called for a foul...I mean seriously - at least in the Super Bowl the officials were a bit more discreet...anyway - I’ve heard a lot - and read even more about various reports, accounts and opinions on the series and I’d say somewhere in the 90% area are baffled...anyway - there were a bunch of "questionable" calls in game 6 BUT the Mavs still blew two separate 14 point leads in the first half - which is inexcusable...I honestly just think the passed to games crushed them...that shot in Game 3 by Gary Payton was the "nail" as they say...BUT, when the chick from NBC came up to interview Wade at halftime the other night and stuck that mic right in his face - I honestly was waiting for a ref to run up and blow a whistle on her and give Flash some free throws... Anyway - shitty series...BUT - D-Wade is the Truth...that's not even up for conversation - he's great...LeBron better step it up 'cause Wade is about to take the entire league over - wait 'til he starts getting those sort of foul calls in the regular season next year...shit...dude was putting up 30 easy without it - he'll average close to 50 next season with 17 to 20 free throws a night...AND, AND - AND he doesn't have to worry about a lot of injuries 'cause dude wears pads - seriously (look it up) he wears pads on his thighs like a running back and a pad on his chest...so I will say this - at least Jordan never had to wear accessories… Anyway – I’m just disappointed that it wasn’t a good series…the reason why people look[ed] at the Mavs v. Spurs and Mavs v. Suns series as being two of the greatest in recent memory is partly because of the lack of controversy…but really it was just great basketball being played and it was exciting – just let ‘em play…Dallas was clearly the “better TEAM” but in the end that’s just not enough in the NBA…Many true fans of the sport were excited about a rebirth of the NBA because of teams like the Mavs, Spurs, and even the Pistons – good, quick, athletic all-around TEAMS were going to be the future of the League…
and now we have what amounts to, as Bill Simmons (the Sports Guy) appropriately wrote: “A tragedy... Nothing against Wade -- after all, it isn't his fault his team sucks and he has to play this way -- but seeing an individual triumph over a team YET AGAIN would erase every positive outcome from the 2005-06 season. Basically, the team with LeBron or Wade will win the next 10-12 titles, and it will come down to which guy made more 20-footers with two guys on him and which guy got the most cheap calls from the most spineless referees. That's not basketball, it's a star system. When my wife was asking why I was so ticked off after Game 5, it wasn't because I had money on the game (I didn't), or because I liked one team more than the other (I don't). If Miami wins, we may as well go back to box haircuts again, because it's going to be 1991 all over again -- the "New and Improved" NBA will have been defeated, and the Old-School NBA will reign supreme.”

Remember - when nobody could really give a damn about the NBA...i mean come on - those were the Ewing years folks...if you lived outside of Boston, San Antonio, L.A., Philly or Detroit you stood a very good chance of not even realizing there WAS an NBA...
“Here's what happens if Miami wins the title: New Jersey will say to themselves, "Hey, maybe this could happen to us with Vince Carter"; Washington will say the same about Arenas; Boston with Pierce; G-State with Richardson; the Lakers with Kobe; New Team X with Iverson. And so on and so on. But that's just the thing ... we went through this last decade. There was only one MJ; the formula couldn't be replicated. Same with Dwyane Wade; only LeBron can match him. And everyone else will fail trying, which means we can look forward to another decade of perimeter scorers going 11 for 32 in big games, teammates standing around while stars dribble at the top of the key waiting to challenge two defenders at once, and refs deciding every big game (like in Game 5) by how they interpret contact when the same guy is recklessly driving to the basket over and over again. Does any of this sound fun to you?”

and just when I thought I was becoming a fan...selah!

ROCK!ets…
Just in case the hole you’ve been living in has kept you away from the television/radio/newspaper – things out here are going spectacularly! Just superb…

Nothing like getting to prepare for the possibility that our crazy-ass neighbors to the north out here might just push the fucking button…I mean – wow – it’s just awesome…knowing that if it hits the fan, me and 10 million of my closest South Korean homies will go up in smoke here in the lovely city of Seoul…

Yeah, yeah – the missile is pointed out over the Pacific – that’s all fine and good, but as soon as we blow it out of the sky we’re basically, for all intents and purposes, “at war” with North Korea…which is, in the words of the BummbleBee guy, “No es Bueno!” especially here in the capital city not too terribly far from those wacky North Koreans and there millions of forces waiting on the border – FUN! God Bless 2nd Infantry Division…

Anyway…we went over packing lists today – 6 socks…CHECK…6 underwear…CHECK…Gas Mask…CHECK…and so on and so forth – awesome!

Meanwhile we’ve gotten a couple very new Korean Soldiers into our office in the last couple of months and the looks on their faces after our little “briefing” were priceless…it’s not so much The Fear that’s got them – it’s more about the complete uncertainty of the whole situation…well that and a bit of The Fear I guess…

Anyway – that’s all from South Korea – no one knows what the heck is going on...so we’re standing by! Hoooah!

REAL - Fantasy Sports...

I currently manage two fantasy teams… A football team – the ILLs (after Kim Jong-Ill, ‘cause I’m in Korea after all), and a baseball team – Rick James (‘cause that shit is just plain funny!). Along with that, I also serve as the commissioner for the leagues that my teams are in – the League Sanchez (football – yes, as in Dirty) and the Human Growth Hormone League (baseball – for obvious reasons).

The ILLs were my first go at the whole fantasy sports thing. You hear so much about it and I was a bit intrigued. I love to compete and I figured that it would be a good way to keep in contact with the friends that I’ve come to know around the way. Thus, League Sanchez was born. Mostly friends from back at Fort Knox who have since spread out to various places, some family – my Uncle and his son, and even some folks that most of us didn’t know – just to keep it interesting.

And it basically works like this – you name your team, rank the players that you want on a draft board and then have a draft. Now you have your team’s “players” filling up the requisite positions. Each week you insert who you think will have the best games of the week in to your starting line up and you receive points based off of their performances – Larry Johnson goes off for 4 touchdowns and a 200 yards – I get 6 points per TD and a point for every 50 yards (and Tom cries enough tears to fill the Nile!) or you draft Duante Culpepper as your franchise quarterback and he proceeds to single-handedly ruin your season – and so on and so forth…Each week you match-up head to head against someone in the league and in the mean time and between time you talk shit, check injury reports, scouting reports, talk shit, check defenses, and basically talk more shit…or whine about how this or that isn’t fair and bitch about why the hell they refuse to throw Randy Moss the Damn Ball!, but I digress…

ANYWAY, it’s fun – football apparently a bit more so than baseball – you have to really be FAN of the game to pay the necessary attention to the ebbs and flows that can go in to a 160-game season – which can make or break your fantasy club…football is a little less tough – less games, more time in between games, less stuff to keep track of – yada yada yada…

Now, I’ve taken many a jab or two for my new found enjoyment of the world of fantasy sports. I was already addicted to sport in general, and ESPN, and loved to compete – so I guess it was really only a matter of time…Sounds a bit ridiculous – fair enough…

However, the “fantasy” will soon become reality for the fans of the Schaumburg Flyers – a minor league baseball squad 30 miles or so outside of Chicago’s city limits.

The Flyers, an independent team playing in the Northern League, are scheduled to hand over managerial duties over to their fans – via online voting – beginning in mid-July.

YES – you read that right…in a joint venture, dubbed “Fan Club: Reality Baseball,” will be an “alliance” of sorts between the teams’ owners and fans, the production company LivePlanet and MSN.com, according to a recent story on ESPN.com.

LivePlanet will be responsible for the behind-the-scenes storytelling of the team, it’s players, family and history, while MSN.com will display “everything from the team’s day to day statistics to video highlights and eventually live streaming video of games.”

Sound Crrrrrrrrrrrrazy – sure! Sound exciting and intriguing – Damn skippy!

There’s an obvious market for this sort of thing, with millions of people already planning their days around making sure their FANTASY-fantasy teams are up to snuff – checking and triple checking to see if it would be good to drop a floundering Dontrelle Willis or if there’s any trade potential for Alfonso Soriano…

There’s a bit of a premise here as well. For the last four years a football (soccer – they’re European duh) club in Northern France dubbed the Web Football Club, has been surprisingly successful as the “entainautes,” or web-surfers, there have decided everything from starting lineups to game tactics. And each year the team has improved as well as moved up a division based on its’ success.

The interesting thing for the Flyers of Schaumburg is that they play in a minor league system that splits its’ season into two halves, with the winner of each half meeting in the playoffs…the fans will take over in time to take over day-to-day operations from game one of the second half of the season, which means that they will, in turn, determine whether or not the Flyers make the playoffs.

As for the team in France - there they now have more than 13,000 registered entrainautes from around the globe who are dedicated to “supporting the club.” The players there apparently love it due to the fact that they are being rewarded strictly for their effort and play on the field and that promotions and playing time aren’t being divided up based on things as trivial as being friends with the coach.

That being said – something of this nature would obviously not work for a major league team where contracts and money rule the game regardless of the actual effort on the field itself – BUT for the minor league squads like the Flyers it definitely seems feasible…these teams aren’t locked into million dollar contracts where certain players WILL play no matter what – they are teams filled with young up-and-comers, journeymen and others just trying to catch a break – all of whom will give their all every time they have the opportunity to hit the field…and for that – at least in Schaumburg – they will be rewarded…

Sport...

You gotta LOVE sports if for no other reason than the EVERyday things that can occur...The Mavs suddenly went from possible sweepers to easily beatable...go figure - classic Mavs eh?!...a dude that got hit in the FACE by a fastball (plays for the Marlins) comes back to go yard (a home run duh) the very next day...all the while the team from England is looking very sharp in the World Cup...as Big Ben from the Steelers is suddenly an advocate for helmet wearing - go figure...meanwhile - the South Koreans are officially in a tizzy (no idea what that actually means) over their World Cup team...honestly I will Love it if the South Koreans can do something big in this year's competition...Much like back during the World Baseball Classic - these folks KNOW what the heck is going on and truly understand the sport...which makes it MUCH more fun to watch and cheer with them...there were roughly over a million South Koreans outside in the capital center of Seoul (where I live) watching their first game of the cup...everyone dressed in red sporting tiger emblems, jerseys and devil-tiger head gear...it's exciting and fun - and it all can't help but make a sports fan smile...these folks are anything BUT passionate from day to day, but when it comes to competing on the WORLD stage they're ALL up and ready...it's amazing and a bit surreal to see an entire country put themselves - all of themselves - behind a TEAM - just because that team is THEIR TEAM...very refreshing - and I'm about to go ahead and grab a South Korean jersey and hang out in the crowd...fun is FUN after all!

It's Mullet-Time!
25 years folks -and here we are!

Hack-a-ShaQ...

The fun thing is that the Mavs are beating the piss out of the "Heat" without even breaking out the machetes!...good stuff...had this conversation with my Sergeant Major this afternoon after the game...

(me) "hey SGM, you catch the beating this morning?”

(that's when the games are played Korea-time)

(him) "Ha - yeah - I'm kinda kicking myself right now..."

"Why's that SGM?"

"Well I was tempted at going the "under-dog route" and put a couple 100 bucks on the Mavs pulling the sweep on Miami...Now it looks like I coulda made bank."

Awesome...just quality stuff there!

I still got Dallas in 6...at this point more so that they win the championship on their home floor, as they have yet to win a series at home this year...although - I will still be satisfied with a sweep...

wow – wholly crapsheit - I can't even believe this right now - I'm talking about the Dallas Mavericks possibly sweeping the NBA Finals...simply amazing...

Story time: 10 years ago I was asked to write a "journal entry" in school about whatever I wanted- I was wearing my old green Mavericks Mashburn jersey, Cuban had just bought the Mavs, Don Nelson was just named the coach and there I was, pissed at what could have been with Jamal Mashburn (whose jersey i still have) Jimmy Jackson and Jason Kidd, the fact that Nelly was gonna fuck it all up and that the new owner was fucking insane for hiring him...which - just for the record - appeared to hold true for the next 6 or 7 years or so…they broke up the J’s…added Steve Nash in the draft and got Dirk (by trading “Tractor” Traylor (he played college ball at Michigan for those of you who have no idea who the heck that is)– perhaps one of the best trades in the history of the league) and leaned heavily on the veteran shoulders of Michael Finley…

They came close year after year, but without a viable center – Shawn Bradley and Christian Laetnner just aren’t going to cut it – they never made it over the proverbial “hump”…then they quietly began to revamp towards the end of last year as Nelson began to let Avery Johnson take more of a leadership role as a coach…they made some quiet trades and picked up Dampier (a “viable” center) and snuck in Diop (a future “viable” center)…got rid of journeyman Antawn Jamison and picked up the now best-sixth-man-scorer in the League Jerry Stackhouse…stole Jason Terry from Atlanta...Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels came in to their own in last year’s playoffs and they grabbed Van Horn just for good measure – and with Harris coming in to his own - suddenly the Mavs can rotate 10 or 11 guys and can apparently adapt the roster to any type of team in the league…

All that to say this – 10 years ago I wrote a B.S. nothing piece because the teacher told me too …a couple days later she (the teacher) came and talked to me about possibly joining the school Newspaper which she was in charge of…she was really the first teacher to say – “hey, you’re good at THIS dickhead – you should do it more”…so I tried…and now – 10 years later – I’m a noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Army, a published journalist and photographer, an award winning editor, and magazine designer, a world traveler, a veteran of the War in Iraq, AND the Mavs are on the verge of winning the first ever Championship in team history…

I guess I’d like to thank Mark Cuban for being an insane genius, Don Nelson for not being as bad a coach as I thought, and – more importantly – Mrs. Huff for telling me to pull my head out and encouraging me to try and write…that little bit of what appeared to be nothing at the time has actually taken me places that I could never have imagined...

Word up…

Fo' Shizzle...
First of all - for those of you who know what this used be (my chest - ouch - HA!)...enjoy!...I know I am! it's healing up nicely and there's a bit more shading than can be seen in the photo...Second of all - check out the link for the last/latest issue of the ROK Steady...I wrapped it up before I went on leave and just hadn't posted it or the link...overall a decent training issue with great photos from folks all over the peninsula...that and of course some outstanding concepts, layouts and designs! HA!... as for writing an actual post...I'm workin' on it, just kinda lazy lately while trying to figure some things out - some of life's questions and what not...anyway - hope all as well with all of you...and of course: Go Mavs!