Wow! What a game last night. I came back from playing pick-up ball to see the Lakers up 20. I climbed into the shower pissed off as all hell, only to see that during my shower, the Celts had cut it all the way down to 6, and now I could now spend the rest of the game swearing at the TV and punching the couch since it was close and intense again. And I did.
I'm not getting excited yet, though. If it was another sport, maybe I'd think that this one is in the bag. But since it is the NBA, where only twice in my life has the team I'm cheering for in the Finals actually won the series ('04 Pistons and '06 Heat), I'm going to hold off until Boston actually finishes it.
I actually watched the post-game press conferences last night, since I wanted to hear what Phil Jackson had to say. I am a biiiig P.J. hater, even though he went to college at UND. I think he is a smarmy bastard who whines too much about the refs (the main reason I quit reading your book, DVJS, I got pissed about him bitching about the officials nearly every chapter.) Anyways, I was interested in hearing his thoughts since there was no way he could blame anything on the refs last night. Unfortunately, he was very complimentary of Boston, and giving them lots of credit, which I was disappointed in. I love to get pissed at Jackson when he spends his interviews making smug comments about the refs, the other team, and his own players. Oh well. At least 'The Machine' was complaining about calls afterwards. I don't understand how a team that was the beneficiary of a call of such magnitude as the Brent Barry non-call in the Spurs series can possibly complain so much. I really don't.
On the flip side, I was pleasantly surprised by Kobe's post-game quote, "We just wet the bed. A nice big one, too. One of the ones you can't put a towel over. It was terrible." That was awesome. It's no secret I hate Kobe, I think he's a cock and selfish, blah blah blah. But, for the most part, Shaq is all the same things. The main reason I love Shaq and hate Kobe is because Shaq is funny as shit. Ditto Rasheed Wallace. He's a horrible character guy, but he's hilarious, so I love him. My point is that Kobe is rarely funny, but this was a good start. A few dozen more quotes like that and I may not hate him so much. I was seriously laughing hard at that quote....maybe since I was a bed-wetter when I was a kid.
To sum up my finals thoughts, DVJS, please come home. I'm not saying we should watch games together, as we'd probably get in a fistfight by the first TV timeout, but you were supposed to have returned from up north by now, and I am worried that if the series continues to go the Celtics' way, you will pull a Forrest Gump and just continue to roam back and forth across the country and never come back.
US Open: Have I mentioned lately how awesome it is to be alive in the year 2008? ESPN.com has a live video stream following Phil and Tiger's group, and as a result, I got to see every single shot of Phil's round yesterday. After hearing how crappy the TV coverage was from multiple people, we may be at the point where having to work is better than having the day off during a major tournament. During The Masters, I had the live video going, and every once in a while there would be the customary loud roar after a big putt. Our receptionist could hear it out in the lobby, and when she asked what was going on, I told her that I created a macro on my computer that gave me a loud ovation every time I completed a tax return, and she believed me. After a day and a half of her exclaiming, "Yay!!! Another one done!!!" every time she heard a roar from my office, I didn't have the heart to go through with it anymore and I told her the truth. But it did take that long before I felt bad about it.
Impromptu trip to Omaha and the College World Series this weekend. I've often talked of going but never pulled the trigger, but now I only live 3 hours away so let's make it happen, Cap'n. I'm excited for the fantastic combination of beer and college baseball. We're gonna get drunk.
