“One plus one is two, all day long, and it’s never gonna change. And that’s factorial.” -Stephon Marbury

As much as I hate the fact that Stephon Marbury cannot construct a sentence that has both a subject and a predicate – I cannot help but sympathize with him for the way the New York Knickerbockers have dealt with him this NBA season. I do not know all the details nor do I think it’s significant enough to google them. What I do know is that he’s arguably the most explosive scorer on the Knicks roster – and he isn’t getting any burn. Now that is disconcerting to me. I want to see the best players play. I want to be able to pick up a pair of Starbury’s from Steve and Barry’s for $7 and wear it with pride. At this point, my $7 Christmas investment from last year is collecting dust. With a recession at hand – I really wish I had invested that $7 on something else. Btw, add ‘recession’ to a list of words I never want to hear Anderson Cooper saying again.

But in all seriousness, why isn’t he playing for the Knicks? This is not some soap opera. This is the NBA, a business. I don’t care whose feelings Starbury has hurt, but if you’re good, you play (*cough* Kobe *cough*). It doesn’t make business sense. Don’t want to pull an Allen Iverson here, but this is a business. I mean the man is making max money and you’ve exhausted all possibilities to move him and he’s better than almost everyone on your squad – you play him. It’s makes simple business sense. (Now I am closer to understanding why the US is in a recession.)

The future looks dim for Starbury. No one is willing to take on his hefty salary of 21 mil a year. He’s aging – these were supposed to be his prime years. He’ll slowly be forgotten as an exciting NBA player. But that’s probably not what he wants to be remembered for. As good as Starbury is at basketball, he might still be a better business man. From owning his own athletic apparel company (Starbury) to breaking the status quo by solely dealing with NBA general managers, Marbury, unlike Kanye, is not waiting ’till he gets his money right. He’s got it right already.

With money in hand, Starbury is leaving the Big Apple. He is seeking stardom. What better place to start than the City of Angels.

It’s been a little less than 5 months since I last updated. Wow. I’ve tried logging on to Wordpress.. writing a few sentences here and there but never enough to warrant a post. It’s easy to get distracted when you have a lot on your plate. Work has consumed most of my life in the last bit. I’ve put in more time at work than ever at school (I mean  basketball).

Life has been good though. I cannot complain: the Raps are one a two-game winning streak. Everyone is happy on RealGM… which, in turn, means I am happy. (I am addicted to this site. I must at least check it 10 times a hour on a weekday.) I am liking the new Raptors under Jay Triano. The defensive set against New Jersey last night was really good. At one point, I almost associated Raptors defensive matchups with the words; “makes sense.” It was pretty intutive defensive matchups. Jose can’t guard anyone. Kenyon dooling doesn’t really get touches. Put Jose on Kenyon. Put Joey and Jamario on Harris. It only makes sense. It’s not some genious scheme, it just makes sense. This is no knock on Mitchell, but his inability to make sense really cost him his job. At one point… “more shats” is not going to cut it. You need to know x’s and o’s. Yelling at and yanking players once they make a mistake works sometimes because it keeps players honest but it surely shouldn’t be your only method for motivation. Essentially, you can’t gain respect by just being tough with Joey. I hated it when he sided with Bargnani when he played poorly…. I love BC because he brings the “win now” mentality but his pick, Bargnani, is a bit suspect.

Nevertheless, the recent success has gotten me really excited.

Check again tomorrow. Peace.

It was dope. Period. And all that. We had some of the greatest seats (or standing spaces) I could have ever imagined. I was literally 5 feet away from Meth and Red! There were periods which weren’t very nice that I could tell you about but not here. Too many people read this!

But overall a great experience. I will definitely go to this again next year. Security was a bit tight so I couldn’t bring my camera but some people did manage to sneak in theirs. Here’s a bit that I really liked. This dude named Supernatural is pretty ill with the freestyle.

It was indoors btw which was nice because it was pouring on Sunday.

Rock the bells: I missed it last year in NYC. This year they are coming to my city. No way I am missing it. This will be my first concert since I saw Talib Kweli at TUMF.  Btw: Dilated Peoples are in town this year for TUMF. Hit me up if you want to come with me. I’ve never seen Dilated Peoples live and they were one of my favorite bands growing up.

Rock the bells is tomorrow. I am hyped even though it is supposed to rain. Mos Def, who is lyrically out of this world, will be showering us with lyrical bombs (and rain). Can’t wait. We’ll try to get there as early as we can with lots of fluid (water, ) because that’s the only way to get good seats and survive the wait. It starts at 11am and ends at 10:10pm. I doubt I’ll last that long, but I really do want to see Tribe Called Quest and they are the last act. We shall see. I might take pictures and possibly post it here since I am post-facebook. No, I don’t think I am too cool for you (possibly intended for Ara – I know you still read this.).

It might not be too late to get tix since people in Toronto don’t listen to real rap. Flow 93.5 is not rap. At least, it’s not every good rap. So hit me up if you are coming!

I am really excited about the lineup; Mos def, Meth and Red, Tribe Called Quest, Nas, RAKIM!, and De La Soul! Omgoodness.

the lineup (in case you aren’t already drooling):
http://www.guerillaunion.com/rockthebells/settimes/SetTimes_Toronto.pdf

Something tells me people still care about what I have to say. That’s kind of cool. So I will take out one hour of my life every week and write about whatever. You can expect two posts per week.

I watched the latest installment of Chris Bosh’s “this is what I’ve been up to y’all” video on Youtube last night. Please watch:

I know what you are thinking. I am thinking it too. He is higher than [insert your favorite "high" analogy here]. Nothing wrong with being high but putting yourself on Youtube high is next level. I mean, dang, …! Like the Marines, Chris Bosh is among “the few, the proud” after that video. Thats all I got. Neverthless, the point I am making is that I am liking the confidence Bosh has in himself to put out a video under the influence. Mad props for almost pulling it off.

Imagine if Garnett put out a video. Period. And you thought the post NBA finals interview was PG-13 rated… Scoop Jackson did a piece on Garnett after the Finals. Jackson was basically saying Garnett ’s the man and he finally got his after 14 years. What’s funny is that Scoop modified every quote to make Garnett sound human-like. I mean, the man was literally swearing every other word. Why? You just won the NBA Finals! Yell! Go nuts or something. But cut that swearing sh*t out. Word. Now that’s what going on a tangent means.

In other news. There is no other news, stupid. This is significant.

Wow, its been a while since I last told you about my life. I haven’t done anything too crazy actually since my hiatus so already I’m having a hard time thinking of what to write. As I write this, I am thinking about how this piece could be considered “reality” writing. That is, I am making stuff up as I write. Hopefully it beats watching that reality show, you know, so you think you can dance? Bill Simmons from espn.com does this well enough to make a living. That’s pretty cool. I wish some one paid me to write about why professional sports is BS. I don’t remember who the NBA champion was 10 years ago, I doubt I’ll remember the Celtics ten years from now. The point is, it doesn’t matter who wins. Professional sports is about money. The players don’t care about their team, they care about money and personal accolades. There is nothing wrong with that. I don’t blame them. It’s just very sad that we are passionate about our teams when it the end, it doesn’t really matter. It’s about money. I will not watch it unless of course the Raptors make a blockbuster trade and land Kobe.

Everything is business. From stupid presidential debates to drugs on our street. It’s all business. Someone is making money and probably the only reason for the occurrence. I always wondered why there is so much drugs on the street. Is it really that hard to monitor our borders? Or is it because a narcotics officer still needs a job tomorrow? I don’t know man. I can get any drug if I tried. That’s a bit too easy, don’t you think? Kind of sad the way this world works.

Good thing there is beer.

THANK YOU, FRIDAY! You are absolutely awesome!

It’s 1am. Dark as… *ck at Algonquin Provincial Park. We are Awake. Moonlight guides our path to…uncertainty. Four people, three flashlights. We trek. We do not know the path but we know…it must lead… it must lead; it must lead to something beautiful. A cliff is the pinnacle, the zenith of our climb. The view is mesmerizing. Its pitch dark. But I’ve never seen this much. Vivid. Its clear but it’s not. It’s not clear. It’s perfect. Nature is. Flickr could not capture this. Arundhati Roy could not capture this. Planet Earth could not capture this. The wind is just right. It’s like the monsoon wind in India. We’ve trekked one hour. I want to lie down on the edge of the cliff. Be the catcher in the rye. It feels right. Youth. It’s a funny thing. I want to grasp it. I can’t. It’s like the sun that set a few hours ago. It’s gone. I left it. For better things. The moonlight. The moonlight. It’ll guide me…. to uncertainty.

I have been a fan of Toronto Raptors basketball ever since I moved to Toronto in 2001. I was never a die hard fan though and I never cared enough to be a fan during the hard times – although that would imply we are out of the hard times now – we are not. Nevertheless, the Raps have grown on me over the years. In the season that just passed, I can safely say that I watched 60% of the games. That’s about 50 of the 82 games (Yeah, my math skills are impeccable.). Without a doubt, Chuck Swirsky, the play-by-play broadcaster of the Raps, made many of those game memorable. His personality is intriguing. He has an uncanny ability to put a positive spin on any negative situation. He “lights up the room” if you will. I admire his optimistic views on Raptors and most importantly, life.

The news broke yesterday. After 1o years with the Raptors organization, Chuck Swirsky has decided to leave the Raptors and head to Chicago for personal reasons related to his family. It is shock to me because it was so unexpected. Frankly, I still have a hard time coming to terms with it. Chuck was the face of the Raptors. He lived and breathed Raptors basketball. His blog, which I read daily, is a perfect example of his passion and love for Raptors basketball and Toronto. He will surely be missed even by his haters who disliked the very thing I liked about him: his optimism.

I know the Raptors paid his salary and so in a sense, he may have been required to say nice things about them, but I felt a lot of things he did say were things he truly believed in. He loved Toronto and Canada. At every opportunity, he promoted our city. He was a leading member of the Raptors Foundation that is assisting at-risk children by providing them with support programs and support initiatives. His blog (mentioned earlier) paints him as a carefree, outgoing and ever-happy human being with the bigger perspective in mind. Family is important and I totally respect and even admire his decision to leave Raptors because I know he felt at home in Toronto. My dad and I will certainly miss all his catch phrases. We have enjoyed watching him this past year, and simply get very excited whenever he brings out the “salami and cheese” catch phrase. It’s been fun. He’s certainly a great personality.

So long, Chuck. Like you’d say, “it’s been a pleasure.”

I have taken the liberty of pasting most of the catch phrases Chuck has coined through out his years here (coutesy of galeon110 of realgm) just so we all can reminiscence.

• “Are you kidding me?”
• “Onions Baby, Onions!!!”
• “Sick, wicked, and nasty!”
• “Get out the umbrellas; it’s raining treys!” (when the Raptors make several three-pointers).
• “Nothin’ but nylon!” (when a Raptors player hits a shot ).
• “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, ya gotta love it!”
• “Ka-Bosh!” (exclaimed when All-Star Chris Bosh dunks the ball)
• “Oh my Bosh!” (exclaimed when All-Star Chris Bosh makes a play)
• “Kaboom!”
• “You can ring it up from downtown <insert>, this one goes out to <insert>” (When the first Raptors’ three-pointer is scored.)
• “Oh baby, what a play!”
• “Oh no!” (exclaimed when an opposing player makes a scoring play in the clutch)
• “My goodness, Leo.”
• “Always a pleasure talking Raptors’ ball”
• “Rimming..rimming..no.”
• “(Raptors player) has got the mojo goin’!”
• “ He just gave (Name of player) an NBA facial!”
• “A shameless plug!” (Every time Swirsky mentions MLSE in his daily blog)
• “(Name of player) is showing us a little somethin’ somethin’!”
• “(Name of player) shakes and bakes” (When a player crosses over on another)
• “T-Mac to the rack!!!”
• “Vincent Lamar Carter!”
• “(Name of player) has the feel and the flow here at the ACC” (When someone is playing well) * “That’s an MP3 download!” (When Morris Peterson makes a 3-pointer)
• ” A Three ball from Parkerville!” and “A 3 from 18 parker street” (when Anthony Parker scores a 3-pointer)
• “(Name of a player that got blocked) just ate some Spalding!!!”
• “Bam!” (referring to a big-time shot)
• “(Raptors player) filling it up.”
• “To the rack and a dunk!” (exclaimed when a player drives in and dunks it hard)
• “GET OUT THE SALAMI AND CHEESE MAMA! THIS BALL GAME IS ‘OVER’!”
• “RAPTORS WIN! RAPTORS WIN! RAPTORS WIN!”