Finally

We Won! Now that I got that off of my chest, we beat the worst team in the nation (NJIT). They have lost 38 of their last 38 games. It was actually a two point game with about a minute and a half to go. We wound up winning by five. The one thing that really disappointed me was that when I went in the locker room some guys weren't excited that we won. There are a few selfish guys on our team it seems, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were disappointed in their individual play. On Tuesday we play Seton Hall, who is playing pretty well considering that they have six scholarship players and a few walk-ons. It would be nice to go up there and come away with a win.

On another note, I got to see my family and wife over the holiday. For those of you that don't know by now, I moved to NJ for the job at Monmouth and she stayed in Cali until probably the spring and she will move back east depending on my job next year, as this is a part-time appointment. I will also get to see her this weekend before she goes back to Cali on Tuesday.

On to some Terp talk. The Terps are going to have problems this year, it seems, with any team that has big guys that can play. I am going on the record saying that we will beat Duke this year because their big guys are not very good, and Landon should match up well with Singler. We will struggle with teams like UNC that have a rotation of big guys. Hopefully we can win this game against Georgetown today, as I always want to beat the local schools, and come the end of the year it would be huge if we could come out of this tournament with two wins against ranked teams.

I was going to dedicate this last paragraph to speaking about how I am not a fan of the city of Philadelphia, but I will just say that it sucks and leave it at that.

Go Giants.

My Observations Thus Far

Today is our third game. We play the University of Rhode Island tonight at home. The first game of the season we played with a lot of toughness and grit and lost by three. Second game there was no intensity. Hopefully that will change tonight. As far as my job goes, I now realize that I need to be a little more organized. I have to get on top of things early on so that they do not become an issue later on.

For those of you that do not know, a close friend of mine lost his brother last Friday. Yesterday was the funeral, and afterward I spent the rest of the day hanging out with him and my buddy Toole. I really just wanted to be there for him because you never know how one will take the loss of a family member. We all actually wound up having a good time considering the circumstances. It was nice to see all of the people that came out and showed how loved that his brother was. But it was even more special when I got to hang out with him and his family and realized that it was his family that made him the special person that he was and they made me feel like a part of that family yesterday. Hopefully when I start a family with my wife we are able to foster that type of environment for our family.

Color Commentary

Ah, college basketball. I can't get enough of it. Even though the games are cupcakes versus BCS conference teams, I still watch and try to learn something new. That being said, I have to say that Jason (Jay) Williams has gotten A LOT better with his color commentary skills. I remember watching him previously and thinking that he should never do a game again. I was going to change the channel last night from the Michigan Tech. v. Michigan game as soon as I saw that he was doing the commentary. But I didn't. Partly because there was no other game on, and partly because last year listening to him was like watching a train wreck in progress. Remarkably, he seems more confident and as if he sat at home and just commentated games by himself at home on a tape recorder Joe Buck style over the summer. Whatever he did worked, and I look forward to about 10-15 years down the line when I am a head coach and he is doing one of my games. By then, he will be a polished veteran. Well played Jay Williams.

First Week of the Season

Today starts the first week of the college basketball season. The first game of the season will pit Georgia Southern at Houston, followed by the first televised game pitting Presbyterian at the No. 5 ranked Duke. I am excited for the season to start and to have our games actually count at Monmouth. This weekend we open up on Friday at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton and Monday at Florida International in Miami. We need to get one if not both of these games. That would be a huge start of the season for us. Just think if we win these two, we will already be a quarter of the way towards having a better record than last year. Hopefully my confidence and experience can rub off on the team. We have to be better than last year, which isn't really saying much.

Things I Have Seen

In this blog, that will be updated as necessary, I will post some of the things that I have read or heard said about President Elect Barack Obama.

- If ten n****rs can't run a KFC how is one gonna run the country?
- What are they gonna call the white house now?
- U know the bad part is that obamas wife hates america and white people! And his dad is a terriost! All these obama lovers can drop on there knees and bow down to these! Obama is a fucking loser and he's a piece of shit!
- xxxxx is moving to Australia...at least they don't have a socialist, jew hating president.

...more to come I'm sure.

A Few Days Later

So, it has been a few days after the election and while I am not surprised by the reaction of most, I am appalled at the reaction of some. As I browsed my facebook and myspace pages I witnessed comments that made me wonder why I befriended many of my "friends". I have no problem with people that do not believe that President Elect Obama should be the next President of the United States of America, but I do take issue with those that take their hatred, and I will even go as far as to say racism to such a level that begs the question, "How far have we really come with race relations in this country"? I thought it was thoroughly researched and disproved that President Elect Obama was not a terrorist. I thought it was confirmed that his name was Obama and not Osama. The most frightening and disturbing thing to me is the people that believe that because the PEOPLE voted for President Elect Obama that it somehow signifies the end of this experiment that we call America. News flash, it doesn't. As far as politics go, I believe that I am somewhat entrenched in the middle. I am a registered Democrat. That being said, I believe the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored. I believe in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability. I believe, free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity. I believe government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn. I believe the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations, and that the best government is that which governs least. I believe the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people. I believe Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times. I believe Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world. And for those of you that have not realized it yet, these are all supposedly REPUBLICAN principles. To be truthful, I would probably be a Republican if and only if (IFF, shootout to Kuhar) the Republican party actually believe these core values. However, it seems to me that the Democrat's believe in this more so than their counterparts. Now some of you may question why, if I believe that the government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn, and that the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations, did I vote for a Democrat that voted for the Financial Rescue Plan and raise taxes on those making over $250,000. Well as it turns out, the private organizations cannot handle the critical function of keeping our country from financial ruin, or educate our young people, or many other issues that if I mention will turn this blog into a novel. In order to accomplish the things that need to be accomplished the money needs to come from somewhere, and though I am not for raising taxes, if it helps our country, The United States of America, reestablish itself as the best country in the world, then I am all for it. Hell, you can even raise my taxes even though I don't make anywhere near $250,000. While I would hate to have less money in my checks it may afford me, down the line, the ability to provide my children with a solid education, or start my own business when this credit crunch is over. But I digress, this originally started as me stating how I feel about peoples overt or blatant racism on the social networks, so I will return to that. In closing, you should all be ashamed of yourselves. You should be proud that America, my America and your America, has come to a point where it is even possible to elect a black man to be president of the United States of America. He is not a terrorist. He is THE American Dream. While some of you are concerned with his possible connections to terrorist's and the like seem to gloss over the fact that Sen. McCain has been liked to domestic and foreign terrorism as well (Email me for further details if necessary). And for those of you that are afraid of the name Barack Hussein Obama, I will end with this, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet".

Election Day '08

So it is now upon us. The day that our voices can be heard. The day for change is here. Go Vote today. Vote Republican. Vote Democratic. Vote Independent. Vote Green. Vote Libertarian. Vote Constitution. Vote Socialist. Vote Objectivist. Vote Socialism & Liberation. Vote Prohibition. Vote Socialist Workers. Vote Boston Tea. Write yourself in. I don't really care*. Just Go Vote! That being said, my man Will wrote a Gem about it. Like to hear it? Here it go.

I have taken to calling this election a referendum on the sleaze that has become the "strategy" of the Republican party. If McCain/Palin somehow wins today can you imagine the depths to which they will go in 2012 to get a victory??? So even if you are not in love with Barack Obama, cast a vote for our country. Here is to the hope that all those who believe the con game the Republicans have been peddling can take a step back tomorrow and realize we are still one country and that their leader is not a terrorist nor anti-American. Here is to the hope that all those responsible for these disgusting smears, this pathetic fear campaign, join the hundreds of thousands of workers on the unemployment line, it is only right they spend some time with the people who are suffering the most from the policies they push.
Here is an endorsement for Sen. Obama, give a read and then find out where it is from:

"If the John McCain of 2000 saw today's counterpart, he wouldn't recognize himself, McCain is no longer a GOP maverick, or the war hero whose principles were unwavering. He has flip-flopped on issues ranging from tax cuts to torture in an effort to win over the conservative base of his party. He has waged a dismal campaign based on fear and divisiveness."

Editorial Board of Wyoming's Casper Star-Tribune
Dick Cheney's hometown newspaper

Here's to HOPE!

Lastly, please take a moment to think about the power that we are beginning to realize we possess. The best thing about this election, for me, is not the obvious but that millions of people who have discarded the idea of democracy and the power of their vote have discovered it. We are the checks and balances for this country, an educated voter can, in time, reverse most of the harm done in the last 8 years. We are responsible for this, We are responsible for not allowing another Florida in 2000, another Ohio in 2004. The ability is within us, we have all the tools to take ownership of our country, So lets keep those light bulbs Senator Obama has so magically illuminated in each of our brains burning bright. This cannot be a one time thing, for if it is we will be searching for another transcendent figure to dig us out of another deep hole before we know it. Sen. Obama has made it cool to be involved, seize that feeling and own it. This country was not created to be divided by religious beliefs, We were to be THE true democracy. As we have learned over the years just exactly what that means we have tried to correct our missteps, most, if not all of which have come from the greed of dishonorable men. So today can be the first step towards ridding our government of those not deserving of the honor to serve, and correcting the mistakes of our past. Some would have you believe Barack Obama is the devil, but not Obama or the author of the slander is the guilty party, complacency is the devil and the life blood of the Roves, the Cheney's the and Bush's. Lets conquer complacency and we will conquer them.

W






* - I actually do care who wins the election, I would just prefer that ALL of the people get out and decide who wins rather than a select few.

The Competition

So I have finished week one of my weight loss "Competition". I put competition in quotation marks because I don't think it is a competition when you know you are going to win. Though I don't think I have lost any or much weight, I feel a little better physically (even though I am sore) and mentally. I know if I keep up what I am doing for the next couple of months there will be a drastic change. Best part about this week though is that our last recruit is leaving today so that I won't have to go out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner which has absolutely undermined my healthy eating habits. Though I do try to eat healthy when I do go out, there is no way that it compares to eating a regularly portioned meal and a salad like I was used to eating about two months ago which cause me to lose about 10-15 pounds and I didn't really even work out. So I figure, if I eat right and work out like I did this week, I should be able to lose a ton of weight (not literally a ton, but you know what I am saying) before the Final Four. Thus winning this "Competition".