Dream NBA Finals and my prediction

So a great year in the NBA boils down to a supreme match-up. Two storied franchises going at it once again, with very likeable players and exciting teams on each side. I, along with just about every other NBA fan on earth, am stoked to see this series happen. It will be a blast.


So in year 2 of my predictions, I'll start off with a critical posession in game 5 of Lakers-Spurs....

Thanks to Bill Simmons for summing it up for me better than I ever could........


There was one moment near the end of Game 5, well after Kobe had taken over, when the fans could sense it, and so could the Spurs, only he hadn't totally euthanized them yet. Leading by five and killing precious seconds near the midcourt line, everyone waited for him to make a move, all of us standing, all of us fully aware that something special would happen. Pau Gasol ambled over to set a screen, only Tim Duncan didn't even bother to go with him, knowing Kobe would drive to the hoop ... which he did. Even with Duncan (only one of the best defensive players ever) planted directly between him and the basket, Kobe dribbled left, put on an extra burst of speed and somehow got to the rim for the clinching layup even with Duncan anticipating every step of the play. When the ball fell through, you could see the life sink from Duncan's body, and from everyone else on the Spurs for that matter. They weren't beating Kobe. Not this year.


For the FIRST time, I entertained the idea of Kobe being as good as Jordan. He could not be stopped in a hugely important game when the other team, who by the way is a fantastic defensive team, HAD to stop him. Even more, you KNEW he would win the game by making the clutch shots somehow some way. That reminded me of Jordan.


And That's why my pick is Lakers this year. They have the better team overall. They have a much better coach. and finally, they have the best player by far. This is Kobe's dream, his chance to show the world what he can do with HIS team. It will be interesting to see if the Celtics can somehow stop him from reaching legendary status by winning the championship. I don't think they can.

Emmy Awards = Laughing stock

This just in.....Bill O’Reilly was chosen to receive the Governors Award at this year’s Emmy Awards ceremony. That’s the highest honor that they hand out.

'nuff said, the Emmy Awards are total crap. I feel for all the good folks who received, and are proud of, Emmy's in the past. They now mean nothing.

Future Water Polo player?

Ready for his first swim lessons.....

Game 2....Gotta pick the right beer

Game 2 Lakers-spurs....life is good.

Bulls or Knicks Job....?

So the Bulls get the #1 pick (they only had a 1.7% chance at it but got it anyway) and now the critics are really piling on D'Antoni. "bad fit" with the Knicks, the Bulls job is so much more appealing.

I'm not so sure. let's think about this for a second. Yes, no question about it, the Bulls are a better team now, and with this #1 pick will be a MUCH better team than the Knicks this year. So what? will they really be able to go all the way? there's a lot of great talent out there in the east now and I doubt the Bulls can make a serious run at a title (maybe a 20% chance at making the finals though). But what if you step into that job and, like the previous couple coaches, you don't succeed right away? the pressure is on to win NOW. if you don't get past first round of the playoffs you could be on the unemployment line again next year. but the Knicks job? well, is there a better job in sports than coaching the Knicks? even in their horrid state, they are still a huge presence in basketball. and they just hired a very well-respected "good guy" GM in Walsh. the pressure to win is there, but the expectations, thanks to Isaiah, are very low. you get to come in and make more money than God, you're almost guaranteed to have the job for 2-3 years. And you can start slowly, you get to be a hero (saving the Knicks from Isaiah makes you a hero even before you do anything!), you get to build and mold the team to your liking and coaching style over several years. if you go 40-42 this year you're probably in the playoffs and a certified stud of a coach. Compare that to the Bulls job where, more than ever with the #1 pick, you are expected to win right now and if not you stink as a coach. Worst-case scenario as Knicks coach is you fail but people will say "He did the best he could with that terrible team". Not so with the Bulls. If you fail in Chicago your coaching prowess will be seriously in question.

I believe this example is a microcosm of Americans way of thinking...you have to do everything right now! short-term thinking might get you immediate glory, but there's a lot to be said for taking your time, managing your career based on your own expectations. It seems people are quick to jump right into the frying pan in order to achieve immediate results. but they are ignoring the damage that these intense stress levels cause in their overall life.

Call me crazy, but I like D'Antoni's decision.

2 Stories....a Microcosm of the REAL housing bubble problem

You read so much about "predatory lending" and "lack of oversight" that are the root causes of this housing/credit crisis.

I respectfully dissagree.

While these were cetainly role players in the great game of B.S. that caused the horrible state we as a nation now find ourselves, they were not the main star of this show.

Nope, it was the folks who now claim ignorance or cry about how they are the vitctims of this whole downfall in housing. 2 case-studies that I think demonstrate my point....

AZ
“One of the market casualties is Daryl Fox, a recently unemployed cosmetics salesman. After his divorce several years back, Fox and his ex-wife sold their home in Chandler. It took a while to sell the house, and they had to reduce the price to find a buyer in the already-slumping Valley real-estate market, he said.”
“In April 2006, Fox took his half of the equity from the Chandler home and whatever other savings he had scraped up through the years and used them to pay 15 percent down on a three-bedroom home in Rancho El Dorado. The $212,000 purchase price was down from the home’s highest value.”
“He thought he was hitting the market at the right time, getting the most bang for his buck. ‘I thought the market had bottomed out when I bought it,’ Fox said. That’s why he was willing to take out a 2/28 adjustable rate mortgage from Chase Bank.”
“He did refinance right after closing, drawing the equity of that 15 percent down out of the house to finance a few renovations, he said. He owed the full $212,000 now. ‘My intention was to live in that house as my primary residence, that’s why I remodeled it,’ Fox said.”
“In June 2006, Fox met Teri Parks, his future wife, at the Native New Yorker. Parks soon moved from Minnesota to Maricopa, buying a home in Acacia Crossings. Parks’ house was the larger of the two, so it made sense for Fox to move in there and sell his place.”
“But the short market downturn Fox had expected turned into a free fall. ‘The median housing price in Pinal County ‘has steadily eroded from $220,000 in fourth quarter 2005 to $193,000 in third quarter 2007 and $156,160 for the current quarter,’ stated a report released by Jay Butler, director of Realty Studies t Arizona State University.”
“After spending thousands trying to hang on, Fox was staring down the barrel at foreclosure. A lawyer advised him just to walk away from the home, but he decided that he would try to sell the property in a short sale. Fox has a buyer willing to pay $90,000 as of early May…if the bank accepts that offer.”

why does the bank have to accept the offer? you either accept your end of the responsibility or not.
Secondly, why, when you could only scrape together 15% to put down on the house, AND you signed up for a very sketchy 2/28 loan, did you immediately refinance and take out that 15% to max out your obligation (that you obviously could not afford)?

FL
“Thomas Wilson strolls through his Stoneybrook at Heritage Harbour neighborhood, pointing out the subtle signs of financial fallout. Windows with views of empty rooms. Weeds sprouting through once well-manicured lawns. Small, bright orange stickers on front doors, the tell-tale sign that the houses have been abandoned.”
“Just on Wilson’s street, Stone Harbour Loop, 16 foreclosure actions were filed last year. In the first three months of 2008, seven more were filed.”
“He’s angered by the aggressive lending and poor oversight that have landed thousands of families in the same predicament. ‘It’s just terrible what they’re doing to people here,’ Wilson says. ‘They’re killing America and they don’t even know what they’re doing.’”
“He and his wife closed on their $522,500 home in December 2005. Five months later, they were sued for foreclosure and are still fighting to save their home. Wilson, who is not currently making payments on the loan, acknowledges that the couple should have looked at the loan documents more carefully.”
“‘I didn’t read the papers,’ Wilson said.”
“‘I’m not trying to weasel out of anything. If I owe you $530,000 I’m going to pay it,’ says Wilson. ‘Make this loan work with $2,500 (payments) like you initially said. And everyone walks away a winner. If you can’t do that, let us out.’”

Let us out? LET US OUT? You, my friend, got yourself into this. You admit you signed up for a loan of over 500k that you did not fully understand? and now you blame the lender? I'll tell you what, I'll buy your house....don't ask how much or what the terms are, just sign here.....

What do these have in common? these people are idiots! they signed on the dotted line knowing they either A) did not know what they were signing or B) could simply not afford the loan they were signing up for!!!!!

it all comes down to oridnary people doing dumb things. I submit that the overwhelming cause of this entire problem are the hundreds of thousands of people who signed on the dotted line and now can't pay.

the REAL victims? Honest people who bought a house knowing they would make the payments. These people had to pay more to buy their house because the idiots (who had no intention of paying the real price of their house) artificially drove up the prices. And these same honest people are now still making good on their commitment and paying every month even though the idiots are fleeing the scene, causing a horrible downfall in prices.