Nothin' to See Here

pulling on a beer (drinking a beer, Corona with a slice of lime) and still wearing my work clothes (a bit dirty from the rainy bike ride home); i'm trying to think clearly.  it usually doesn't work - this attempt at clear thinking - but i give it a cursory go anyways.  ya gotta try, right?

i haven't been watching the NCAA Tournament that much.  mostly been watching "The Wire" on DVD (in the middle of Season Two).  

we had quite a rain storm here last night.  

i think i'll pull on a beer (i mean drink it) and puff on a small cigar.  sit on the porch and watch the night.  peace.

Rambling College Tourney Preview

the games are set to begin and i (honestly) really have no idea whom to favor --- (i'm watching CBS at 11 AM on a Thursday, i honestly do have the day off from work and i get to watch LSU versus Butler, and i just caught a commercial for the Masters Golf Tournament with the tagline "you have to pray just to survive" or something like that.  pray to survive? it is a golf thing right, this "Masters"?  seems a bit severe and unnecessarily so.  of course i think televising golf at all is unnecessary.  back to the hoops) ... >  the college is tournament is kicking off right now.  LSU and Butler just tipped off and LSU is up 9-0 in the first minute.  time out Butler.

whom am i picking?  i don't know (as i mentioned above).  early in the season i really liked UConn (the only top team i really got to see play).  they have the D presence inside with Thabeet and strong guard play but they are missing one of their guards due to injury.  i'm not sure which one (adding to my lack of true college hoops knowledge) but that obviuosly downgrades them a bit.  its all about injuries with the top teams.  Pitt has an injury to deal with in their point guard Levance Fields.  UNC does too with Ty Lawson, their point guard.  people like Louisville but i can't name one player.  so ... i'm going to go with this Final Four:

1) Indiana

2) Arkansas

3) Georgetown

4) Georgia Tech

wait, what?  okay these teams stunk this year (Indiana was 6-25).  my real picks?  okay, let me guess (i'll be lucky to get one of these) ... (and i got to make my picks quick, i'm missing LSU-Butler by typing instead of watching ... 14-6 LSU in front ...) ...

conventional wisdom has Louisville (#1 seed), UNC (#1 seed), Pitt (#1 seed), and a toss up between UConn (#1 seed) or Memphis (#2 seed).  kind of boring (but safe) to select all #1 seeds in the Final Four.  i'm gonna go Wake Forest, UConn, Pitt, and i want to go Syracuse because i want to hold off on selecting UNC and going THREE #1 seeds but then that puts me with 3 Big East teams which i don't like.  so let's go UNC i guess.  Obama has UNC over Louisville in the Championship Game.  i like that based just on the uniform colors (RED vs. POWDER BLUE).  i also like a Pitt-UConn rematch.  hell, i don't know, let's pick these guys.

sports like an onion

a rainy Sunday here in New Orleans and the punchless Dallas Mavericks (except for Jason Terry and his seven 3-pointers) lost to the Hollywood shiny LA Lakers on ABC today.  i'm really not a fan of these Lakers:

   

but whatever.  they almost blew the game to a clearly inferior Dallas team (with absolutely no interior defense, Pau Gasol scored 20 1st half points on 10 shots - he made them all) (at times it was a lay-up line for the Lakers in the paint).  if i was a Dallas fan i'd first be reasonably happy that my team was probably gonna go to the playoffs then bummed because it will probably be a short stay.

in MMA news: this happened.  which i alluded to here in a previous post.  you don't have to read all of the post - just skip to the final few sentences (but feel free to take in all of the beautiful literature if your heart so desires).

also Rampage won't be able to fight Rashard Evans for the title in May because of a jaw injury.  the title shot will go to unbeaten (and very deserving) Lyoto Machida.

here's a bit of "the Dragon" explaining his work.

what other sports news and notes do we have?

NBA: the New Orleans Hornets only mustered 79 points last nite (Sat. nite) in losing to the Chicago Bulls.  i really don't like the Bulls right now.  they have, for years, been a team with no identity just lots of bodies and draft picks and not enough minutes to go around.  its like they constantly rotate line-ups and strategy within those line-ups searching for something approaching consistency.  i mean, this is a team that has/had Elton Brand, Brad Miller (twice), Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, Ty Thomas, Tim Thomas (twice), Joakim Noah, Drew Gooden, Andres Nocioni, Joe Smith, Ben Wallace, Ron Artest, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Duhon, Jay Williams, Derrick Rose, Thabo Sefolosha, Ben Gordon, John Salmons, Larry Hughes, Luol Deng, etc.  that's, like, half of the NBA right there.  pick a line-up, pick a coach, pick a philosophy, and play basketball for crying out loud.  

NHL: i heard Steve Avery is back with the NY Rangers.  that is all i know on hockey right now.

MLB: i heard they are playing spring warm-up games, Manny Ramirez is going to be making more money than most countries of the world, and there is some sort of "World Baseball Classic" going on that not too many people are interested in (well, i'm not interested in it).

NFL: its the off-season and the draft is coming up.  i wanted to recap the season and the Super Bowl after the thrilling Big Game but i didn't.  and i kind of ran out of time (to make it newsworthy and "current").  but this blog really isn't too up on things "new" so i'll be posting a NFL 2008 Season Recap soon.  hopefully before the fall and the 2009 season.

one - shotter

the New Orleans sky (in the parking lot of a Best Buy).

Hard Goin'

this has been my fourth (or fifth) attempt at a post.  its almost midnight - and while it is Saturday - i do have work in the morning.  the sports posts are a bit hard in comin' and i feel like this may be crumpled paper throw out into the (cold) wind anyways.  but ya got to keep tryin', no?  (got to keep writing) (now would be an apt time for a glass of whiskey but bed is what is required) (teeth brushing and mouthwash rinsing).  the days move like molasses, slowly being heated.  not hot yet but definitely warmer than straight from the fridge.  

a pie filling in the works.

checking in with the NBA

got home from work on this new Sunday ("new" being a daylight savings time day where the local weather lady on TV declared: "sunset is not until past 7PM today!" ... my only reaction being: "but its not real we just changed our clocks ... by that rationale we could change our clocks now to 3AM and say 'its bright and sunny at 3 in the morning!  what a world!')".  anyways, got home from work and turned on the Phoenix Suns versus the San Antonio Spurs on ABC (it was 81 degrees in San Antonio today according to the local New Orleans TV weather report).  the Suns got beat again ... by the Spurs ... again.  personally, i really want the Suns to make the playoffs.  Shaq and Nash probably only really have one more run in them.  if they can't make the playoffs this year, how can they make them next year when they'll both be a year older? (Nash just turned 35 in February and Shaq just turned 37 on Friday).  that is unless of course they get an amazing young player via trade but ... what team in the NBA wouldn't want that?  its not impossible that a young player or, better yet, a franchise player comes via lopsided trade in the NBA (SEE: Kevin Garnett to the Celtics - how are the T'Wolves doing these days?  or Pau Gasol to the Lakers - how's Kwame Brown performing in Detroit?  the answer, to the rhetorical question, is not good for Kwame.  his last 4 games: 0 points, 1 rebound; 2 points, 4 rebounds; 0 points, 0 rebounds; 2 points, 0 rebounds ... let me just add this again = Not Good.  this is a guy that was traded for Pau "18.4 points per game" Gasol?  ridiculous.  the NBA: Where Lop-Sided Trades Happen and benefit Big Market Teams while Crushing the Little Guy ... go Sonics!).

tangents aside (sorry for that little anti-NBA rant but that may be the moment the league really lost me ... i mean, c'mon!  two lopsided trades!  and the two teams that benefit are 'suddenly' playing in the Finals?  something tells me that the NBA Finals will contain 2 of these 3 teams this year: Cleveland (LeBron), Boston, LA Lakers.  to end this second long-winded conspiracy tangent, let me just say, with apologies to the Phoenix Suns, go Spurs!).  to tie this post up, let me add that last night i did not have irish whiskey but goat yogurt and granola instead.  seems fairly odd.  and now i am eating gummi bears advertised as "made with real fruit juice".  the ingredients are corn syrup, sugar, gelatin, sorbitol, malic acid, mineral oil, carnauba wax, yellow dye #5, red dye #40, blue dye #1 ... and grape juice from concentrate.  healthy!

NOTE: let me know if the links work as i just discovered the feature here on blogger and am having mild success with it.  thanks for reading.

The Morning will come like a Red Claw

Happy Daylight Savings Time USA (except for Hawaii and Arizona).  the morning is on its way (quick).  

the TV is on (again, as fatigue has me a bit grounded ... perhaps the explanation for my 'loss of an hour' fixation?).  i've already set the alarm clock ahead and something in me is trying to convince something else that sleep would be a good idea now.  but sleep always loses to just hangin' out and whittling away the hours of our lives (the hours of my life) (which is actually a pretty fun pursuit provided that all you want to do is nothing) (mission accomplished).  in all honesty i've just watched an entire episode of America's Funniest Home Videos.  wow.  and who says this country is in trouble?  its time for some irish whiskey (TV off) and then bed.  let me just leave you with this.  good night.

random new orleans photo

i took this on one of our first nights back in New Orleans.  we had attended an early Carnival Season parade near our house and i stumbled away from our pack to head home for a semi-early night (i had to work in the morning).  the operative word in that sentence was "stumbled".  also, a drunk guy in a green wig offered me a ride on his bike.  i politely declined.

random mardi gras photo

this is from the Zulu Parade.  expect many more random mardi gras photos (now that we have all reasonably recovered).

checking in with the UFC

first off, Rampage Jackson is scary.

secondly, he's one of the best MMA fighters in the history of the sport.  and if he gets past Keith Jardine at UFC 96 (tomorrow night) he gets a shot at getting his Light Heavyweight Title back.  Rashad Evans has the belt now courtesy of his win over Forrest Griffin last December.  Forrest won the belt (via a 5-round decision) from Rampage last July.  then this happened.  i think Rampage is back and is at the prime of his fighting career.  he's 30 years old and has almost 40 MMA fights including a storied career in Japan with the now defunct Pride.  since arriving in the UFC in February of 2007, Rampage has looked better and meaner in each fight.  his stand-up is now the best in the division.  his KO power is the best in the division (sorry Chuck but its no longer you).  and his overall power (wrestling/strength) is the best in the division.  

of course, all of this is moot if Jardine uses his patented unorthodox attack to pepper Rampage with leg kicks for an upset win.  Forrest Griffin beat Rampage via the leg kick.  that fight went the distance as Griffin couldn't finish Jackson.  Jackson also landed multiple stand-up punches and uppercuts.  basically, it wasn't Rampage's night yet he nearly still won.  i think he'll be Champ again real soon.  before going crazy (which also might happen ... soon).

UPDATE: Rampage won via decision over Keith Jardine.  he's set to face Rashad Evans for the title in May (only 10 weeks of rest and training for Rampage to prepare).  conventional wisdom has Evans as the favorite.  Rampage didn't look dominant against Jardine (reports say, i didn't see the fight AND i haven't seen Rashad fight in his last two big bouts: KO'ing Chuck Liddell and TKO'ing Forrest Griffin).  big fight ahead.  serious stuff.

Throwing Punches

so my idea for a second blog didn't pan out.  this photo was to be the first post on the other blog but now i give to you here on Onions and Oranges: the one and only blog.  its still going to be sports-heavy but, well, its pretty much going to be like it was.

that is, slightly weird and a bit confusing.  with sports.

for example: for breakfast today i ate purple potatoes, eggs with a bit of chopped up turnip greens, a buffalo steak (eye of round), and a fruit salad of Louisiana grown oranges and strawberries.  and coffee.  two cups.  i'm thinking about a third.