Toranto Wins The Series Against Washington

Along with OKC, the wizards were eliminated from the playoffs last night.

Although I’m not a fan of the washington wizards, as someone who lives in the dc area i was hoping to get a chance to go to one of their playoffs games if they made it to the second round. I haven't been  to an NBA game since 2014 when Melo, Jr Smith, Tyson Chandler, Iman Shumpert, and Raymond Felton were all still playing for the Knicks (the good days).  The wizards were an OK team this year, and I didn’t think they could beat Toronto.  The future of the John Wall and Bradley Beal back court is a mystery.

Sad End to the Thunder’s Season

Last night the OKC’s season came to an unfortunate end after a no call on a 3 point attempt by Paul George.

After the no call, theThunder unexcusably struggled to foul the ball handler to stop the clock. The team seemed more concerned about the no call on PG’s potential game tying 3 than fouling to put Utah on the foul line.  I do understand their hesitation to foul because the Thunder could’ve been down by 5 instead of 3 if the free throw shooter made both attempts. But, okc could’ve had at least 2 more possessions if everything went their way.

In my opinion, OKC kind of desevred to lose the series because they weren’t playing good. The Jazz were the better team all series. I also feel bad for melo because he didn’t play well during the series. Last night he had a -19 net rating in 26 minutes which is hard to do.  Melo also played poorly during the season and people have began calling him washed 😕. I dont doubt that melo sees all the washed comments from fans and the media, so he’ll probably use it as motivation for the next season. I hope he does because i don’t want yo believe that my favorite player is no longer good anymore.

Pardon the interuption....

Lets take a break from all the sports talk to talk about Beyonce for a moment.  Last Saturday I was up until 4:40 in the morning watching her entire performance at Coachella, and her performance was worth every single second I was up.  I didn't expect her performance to be that long.  I mean....she did tell everyone about 10 hours before her performance to stay hydrated on a facebook post, but I didn't think she meant because her performance was going to be so long.  She performance for almost 2 hours straight. And i wasn't doing anything except watching and I was getting tired.  I don't know how she had that much stamina to perform that long and it wasn't like she was just standing there singing.  She was dancing and singing live the whole time. I wish I had that much stamina. 

It sucked that the crowd was so terrible.  They might have witnessed one of the greatest performances of all time and didn't realize it.  Sometimes I'm amazed at how great Beyonce is.  She truly is inspiring, and if I ever get to meet her, I don't think I would be able to let her go.

Sixers vs. Heat Game 3

Last night's game e of the series between the sixers and heat did not disappoint.  It's kind of crazy to see just how far the sixers have come.  Just last year they had the number 1 pick in the draft because they were so bad.  This year they finished 3rd in the eastern conference standings with a record of 52-30; a massive improvement from the previous year.  I don't think anyone thought the sixers would be good this season, let alone make the playoffs.  Because I hadn't been watching nba games this season, I wasn't aware of just how good they were.  And to be honest, I haven't watched a playoff game yet, but, I'm going to watch the wizards game tonight. I promise. I know the Raptors lead the series 2-0, but hopefully the wizards can come back and make this a competitive series.

But back to the sixers, I know Joel Emiid had been out for the first 2 games of the series after fracturing his orbital bone during the season, but he came back for the third game.  He had to wear a mask to protect his face, which is not uncommon for players to wear after fracturing a bone in their face.  But what made his comeback so intriguing is that he kept the design a secret.  This is what he wore during the game and his highlights:

I honestly think the mask gave him superpowers.  

NBA Playoffs Are Here!

Now, I have to admit....I think I watched no more than 5 NBA games this season, which is unusual for me.  The last 7 years I watched NBA games faithfully, especially Knicks games.  I even had NBA League pass for a few seasons and went to a couple of games over at the Verizon Center (Capital
One Arena now).  During the 2012-2013 season when the Knicks won 54 games, I went to one of their games against the Wizards and saw CARMELO ANTHONY in person for the first time.  JR Smith was also one of my favorite players on the team at the time, so it was cool to see the the players I loved the most live in action and fairly close to me.

But anyway, I haven't been that interested in watching the NBA this season, and that's probably because Melo left New York and I don't know how to become a true OKC fan.  BUT, during the playoffs I think it should be easier for me since the Knicks aren't in the playoffs anyway.  I'm glad Melo is back in the playoffs.  The Knicks wasted his prime years, unfortunately.  The Playoffs start this Saturday at 12pm with Golden State vs Spurs!!!  I didn't watch more than 5 NBA games this season, but I'm watching every playoff game.

Andre Ingram's night (ft. Chris Paul)

Over the weekend, 32-year old Andre Ingram was called up by the Lakers from their G-League affiliate the Los Angeles D-Fenders.  He spent 10 years in the NBA's developmental league (now called the G League) hoping to one day get a call from a professional team, and his dream came true.  Some say his story is an example of hard work and perseverance pays off.

In his NBA debut against the Lakers, Ingram scored a total of 19 points with 12 of those points coming from behind the arc.  However, that shouldn't be too surprising since teams didn't have scouting information on him.  Nonetheless, it was still impressive.  Andre was among the best 3-point shooters in the G-league, and it showed in last nights game.  It's a great story, and I hope he finds a permanent spot in the league. 

Also, a highlight play occurred during the Lakers vs. Rockets game, but it wasn't from Ingram...

MLB Season

I probably should have talked about this a few days ago, but....BASEBALL SEASON HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED.  I'm not a big fan of baseball though......I've been to a few games, but my opinion of the sport is probably with the majority in that I think it's boring.   At times, it can be fun to watch like during the playoffs, but that's really the only time it interests me.  Fans were making a big deal out of opening day, but I just cant see the hype.  I guess I consider myself a Yankees fan.  That's my dad's favorite team, so I naturally favor them as well.  I've seen Yankees fans talk about Aaron Judge and the other good hitters they got over the offseason, but I have no clue they are. I've never heard of them.  But, I see they're pretty good. 

I went to a game in Baltimore this past October to see the Yankees and it was boring....I try to enjoy the game but it's just too slow.

NBA Playoffs

The NBA season is coming to an ending the next week.  For some teams , these last few games are important and could decided their playoff positions, or decide if they will even make the playoffs.  Unfortunately, my Knicks are in neither of those categories.  They were mathematically eliminated last Friday with a loss to the Miami Heat,but everyone knew there was no way they were going to make the playoffs for about a month or two now. And to be honest, I'm not quite sure if I'm truly a Knicks fan now since Carmelo Anthony was traded to OKC over the summer.  Watching him during his last years as a knicks was hard on me because I didn't want him to leave.  But, I knew if the team continued to miss the playoffs he would soon be gone.  This realization helped me prepare for his departure, but I still wasn't ready. The day he was traded I was happy for him but I cried a little.  And I kept trying to convince myself that it was ok, and that him going to OKC would be perfect because I was born in Oklahoma, so it's a win-win for the both of us. I get to root for the team of my home state, AND be happy for him that he's in a winning environment again.  But guess what.....I just don't like okc that much and I cant switch bandwagons. The poem melo wrote for NY after being traded made me shed tears in public that I was trying my hardest to hide. Check it out:

http://www.thisismelo.com/2017/dear-new-york/

NBA in sync moments

A few months ago, a post appeared on reddit that show some interesting things happening on the court during NBA games.   It shows players being in sync with one another doing the same acts at the same time.  The first post was a video of the suns players all turning their bodies in the same direction at the same time when possession of the ball changed.

When this post was found on reddit, it made its way over to twitter.  Now it has become more common for NBA twitter/fans to notice these in sync moments between teammates in more games.

I don't know what explains why these moments happen.  Maybe it has to do with physics or teammate chemistry.  I have no clue, but I think this is fascinating.  They do say the longer you're around someone, the more you become like them.  This could be a case of that happening between teammates. who knows. 

NBA League pass

On Monday the NBA announced a new option for fans to watch the game.  They can now watch games in the last quarter for only 99 cents.  This a great idea as the season is coming to an end and playoff positioning is becoming more and more important.  Teams on the edge of making the playoffs need all the wins they can get.  Teams that have already secured a spot in the playoffs may need to win a few more games to get their ideal playoff spot.  So the end of games have become more important to watch rather than the rest; the result is all that matters for these teams.  This idea is also smart because it's another option added to the numerous available options on NBA League Pass. With the addition of fourth quarter streams, the program now has 7 options available for fans. The most expensive plan allows you to have access to all team broadcast and in area broadcast during commercials/timeouts for only $39.99 a month.  This post might sound like I was paid to put this information out there, but I swear I wasn't lol.

Odell Beckham Jr.

Since his sudden rise to stardom, Odell has consistently received criticism from the media and fans over his antics on and off the field.  And I personally believe that it has all been very unfortunate and unfair.  Odell is one of the best wide receivers in the game.  He's definitely in the top three. I'll admit, Odell did have some on the field anger issues his rookie season, but I think he's gotten better at handling his emotions.  However, I don't understand why when Beckham shows his emotions, he's considered a distraction, but when Brady shows the same fire on the field it's seen as someone who is passionate about the game and just wants to win....  It's a double standard that I believe has something to do with the perception of wide receivers as "divas"' and quite frankly because he's black.  Other black players who have been in a similar situation regardless of the position they play have had to deal with this double standard.

The treatment negative attention Odell gets from the media is ridiculous, and it's even gotten to a point where some fans and media personalities truly believe the giants should trade him...............lol......that's all I have to say about that idea. When Mara ridiculed Beckham for his doggy pee celebration I thought that was stupid and so was the penalty for it.  I didn't think it was a big deal.



 If the giants were to trade him,  it would be the dumbest trade in giants' history.

Celtics Unique Comeback

Last night the Boston Celtics pulled off a unique victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder snapping the thunder's six game winning streak.  The Celtics won 100-99 in an improvable fashion.  In the final 17 seconds of the game, Boston erased their six point deficit and took a one point lead with 1.2 seconds left in the game.  Marcus Morris made the go-ahead three pointer to seal the game.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the comeback was the first of it's kind this season.  Entering into Tuesday night's action, teams were 0-884 in situations when down by five or more points with 20 seconds left in the game.  Boston was down by five with 16.8 seconds to left on the clock.   I wouldn't be surprised if this comeback was the first and last of its kind for this season as there are only about 11 games left for each team this season.

What makes this comeback interesting is that the Thunder had the chance to essentially end the game if Melo had made his two free throw attempts.  Melo is my favorite player, but he has got to make those free throws.  However, it's not all on him, the thunder's defense should have been better in the closing seconds of the game.

Lebron James Does It Again

On Sunday night, the Cavs played against the Lakers and guess what.......Lebron had another big highlight for the night.  He threw a no look pass to Ante Zizic that fooled the entire Lakers team.  Chris Weber, the color analyst for the night, was even fooled by Lebron's pass.

Julius Randle and Brook Lopez were the biggest culprits.  There should have been better communication on the defensive rotations.  Someone lost track off Kyle Korver--one of the best 3 point shooters in nba history-- and that's why the fake pass worked so well.  Korver was open for a open 3 and  Lebron made a smart move to get an easy dunk for his teammate.  He knew both defenders would automatically rush to Korver if he faked a pass to him.

This play was one of the highlights of the game, but unfortunately Lebron and the cavs lost the game by 14 points.  The lakers scored 127 points, which should not be happening against a team that's trying to win the NBA Title in June.  The lakers are 30-38; 8 games below .500 and they dominated the cavs throughout the game. 

Giants Release DRC...

Yesterday Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie tweeted out a statement confirming the reports that the giants had released their veteran pro bowl CB.  As a giants fan, I wasn't shocked that the organization decided to part ways with the DRC due to the inability to renegotiate a contract.  I understand their need to create space so that they can pay their biggest stars in the future like Odell Beckham and to sign free agents.  BUT, I think they were asking the wrong person to take a huge pay cut.  Because DRC is no longer on the roster, the depth at the corner back position is TERRIBLE...... After Jenoris Jenkins you have virtually no good corner backs on the roster.  Eli Apple showed promise his rookie season, but he played horrible last season.  He also became a locker room cancer.  Every one else is trash as well.  DRC was asked to take a large pay cut AND play to play the safety position; he wanted to play as an outside CB again because last year the team had him play as more of a FS or inside corner.  In my opinion, he should have been playing as the outside corner instead of Eli Apple because he was just bad.  He doesn't know how to turn his head smh.  I don't know why they wanted him to play as more of a safety than CB, but I think if they wanted to save money and have someone take a large pay cut, they should have asked Eli.  Eli is on a decline and isn't worth the $22m he has left on his contract.  I hate to say that, but it's true.

Some will say it's fake....

Two NBA nights in a row and two spectacular plays by the league's most popular players.  On Wednesday it was James Harden, and on Thursday the amazing play featured Lebron James.
.

Lebron's behind the back crossover is arguably better than the crossover Harden performed on Wesley Johnson the night before.  One reason is splitting the defense with a behind the back crossover is extremely hard, especially with Embiid being the big hedging the pick & roll.  Splitting the defense is not an easy thing to do, but to do it using a behind the back crossover that went between the legs of his own teammates legs is impressive.  The fact that the ball had the perfect angle to slip between the narrow space of Tristan Thompson's legs is unbelievable.  I'm not sure if Lebron intended for the ball to slip between Thompson's legs, but nonetheless it's still an amazing play. Here's Lebron's reaction on Twitter earlier today: https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/969443373068292097  

Today in college women's basketball, Aina Bagur had her own Harden moment against Colorado: https://twitter.com/GoDucks/status/969690615494541312

I guess it's breakin' ankles week.  

The Most Disrespectful Cross Over in History?

Last night the Houston Rockets played the Los Angeles Clippers, and if you didn't watch it, something amazing happened between James Harden and Wesley Johnson.  With about 1:24 left on the clock in the first quarter, James Harden brought the ball up the court and proceeded to put Wesley Johnson on skates on an isolation play.  What makes the the play so amazing is the how Harden disrespected Wesley Johnson before knocking down a step back three. Take a look:

James Harden might have performed the most disrespectful stare down in NBA history.  There have  been plenty of disrespectful acts over the course of NBA history.  One that comes to mind to almost everyone is the Iverson step over on Tyronn Lue in the 2001 NBA Finals.  I think the James Harden stare at Wesley Johnson will go down as one of the most disrespectful moments in NBA history.  I've never seen a player stare down another player that they just crossed-over before taking the shot AND making it.  Usually it's after they make the shot, which is why it was amazing and crazy to see.  The crowd reaction makes it more amazing especially since the Clippers were playing at home. I didn't watch the game, but I saw the highlight on twitter where EVERYONE was talking about it. Here's Harden's reaction too play after the game:  

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/969095650116763649

Mason vs. UMass....

I might have mentioned this in one of my previous posts, but I also work for the events department under athletics here at Mason.  I'm pretty sure I did since I talked about homecoming. But anyway, today I had a LONGGG shift. I worked both women's and men's game today, which I was fine with the double shift the day I signed up for today about 3 weeks ago.   But then today I woke up hating myself for signing up for a 9 hour shift.  I was basically standing up doing nothing all day.  With this job, I don't really do much.  Compared to my last job at dominos I feel like I get paid to do nothing. Which....I don't mind. I get paid a dollar more lol work smarter not harder I guess.  The fun part about today though, happened during the very last second of the Men's game.  We ended up winning at the very last second due to poor transition defense by UMass. One of our players made the winning layup during overtime.  It was pretty cool to be a part of that excitement.  But I'm not going to lie, at point I was cheering for UMass in my head but ONLY because I was ready to go home and get the game over with.  I was there for 9.5 hours.......I was tired.

DCIAA Basketball Championships

This past Wednesday the DCIAA held their annual high school  basketball championships for both
 boys and girls at Howard University.  The girls played first at 6pm with the boys playing at 8pm.  For the girls, it was Dunbar vs. Anacostia with Anacostia taking home the trophy.  Something special happened during the game that I never thought I would ever see in person at a high school game.  I got to witness, for the first time, a high school player score 50 points!! Do you know how hard that is to accomplish on any level? It takes so much energy to score that many points.  What made it really special was that it happened during the girls game. Women's basketball often doesn't get the respect it deserves, and it was nice to see them show the crowd that girls basketball is just as good as the boys.  After the game, she received $1000 for being player of the game and she also won a couple of seasonal awards. Anacostia beat Dunbar in a blowout, that didn't matter as everyone in the audience was still having a good time.

For the boys, it was Wilson vs. Roosevelt with Wilson winning the title. I didn't stay for the whole game, but Wilson ended up beating Roosevelt by 12 points.  If you want to go check out some highlights or pictures from the games, you can look at the DCIAA instagram page @DCIAA.

High School Semi Finals Weekend

For the past 2 weeks, the DCIAA has been dealing with middle school and high school basketball playoffs and championships.  Last weekend the middle school championships were held at Howard University for girls and boys.  This weekend the DCIAA was holding the semifinals round for girls and boys at Howard, and the championships for both will be held at Howard as well on Wednesday.  As an intern for the DCIAA, we are required to attend at least one field event of our choice a week, and this week I chose to attend the semifinals games at Howard today.  I had fun watching the games.  There were 4 games today: 12, 2,4, and 6.  I didn't get to Howard until the 2pm game, and I left after the first quarter for the next game because the weather was getting worse.  The highlight of my time there wasn't actually watching the games. It was the free food.  Staff members got their food caterer.  I had a mac n cheese egg roll, pasta salad and fried shrimp that had this sweet and sour sauce on it.  The shrimp was so good. I need to find out what sauce was on the shrimp.

Homecoming Game

In addition to me interning in DC, I also work for the events staff for Mason Athletics.  This past weekend I worked the homecoming game, but the funny thing is...I didn't know it was homecoming. I don't know if that's my fault or bad marketing by the athletic department and the school as a whole to promote that it's homecoming week. I didn't realize I was working the homecoming game until close to halftime when I noticed they were talking about George Mason alumni.  I was wondering why the PA announcer kept talking about Mason Alumni, and that's when I figured out that it was homecoming. When you work back hallway you aren't able to watch the game. That's why I didn't know right away that it was homecoming. During halftime there was a line outside the bathroom, so that was another way I figured out it was homecoming. 





Before the game, one of our workers got stuck in the old elevator that we use to transport items from the bottom floor to the concourse.  It was kind of a scary moment because she was in there for at least 10 minutes.  Thankfully she got out.  Since that incident, I don't trust that elevator. For the game on Wednesday, I had to take the ice bucket upstairs using that elevator, but I was concerned that I might get stuck this time too. So, I pushed the ice bucket into the elevator, pressed "2", walked out the elevator and watched the elevator doors close, and walked up the stairs to meet the ice bucket in the elevator. If the elevator got stuck again, at least it wasn't going to have me in there.

Mckinley Tech v. Jefferson

As an intern for DCIAA, I'm required to attend 2-3 small field events and 1-2 big events such as championships a month, and complete 8-10 office hours per week. I usually complete my office hours on wednesdays and fridays to meet the minimum requirement of 8 hours.  However, this week my intern coordinator wanted me and the six other interns to spend our office hours for the week with an athletic trainer from one of the dc public schools.  Today I shadowed the athletic trainer at Wilson high school: Jamila Watson.  I didn't get a chance to do anything hands on because I'm not certified in anything, but I did get to watch her wrap a student’s foot while we were in the clinic. It was pretty interesting. I also watched the mckinley tech v. jefferson middle school basketball game with her. I got to see what she has to do before games to make sure coaches have their player's inhalers and epi pens.  We had to check the dates to see if they hadn't expired.  In addition, we had to check and see if the players who were playing had a stamp on their physical form.  Having a stamp means you are certified to play.  Being an athletic trainer is not something I want to do, but while I was in high school I thought about going into sports medicine.  I do have a slight interest in the sports medical field, but not enough for me to want to do more than just shadow someone.  I had a nice time with the Athletic trainer. 

And The Winner Is.....

The Philadelphia Eagles finally won a ring...I was rooting for the Patriots to win the superbowl up until Brady fumbled the ball.  Once the Eagles recovered the fumbled, it was at that point that I recognized the Patriots lost the game. Even though the Brady would get the ball back with a little less than a minute left on the clock (enough time for him to throw a touchdown), I just knew the Patriots weren't going to score again because Brady had kind of been off-target all game.  He had over 500 passing yards, but if you watched the game, you could see that Brady's arm just wasn't all that accurate. After the fumble, I effectively switched sides, and I was rooting for the Eagles to win.  We're division rivals, but I'm kind of glad that Brady lost again. He's 5-3 in the superbowl, and all three losses were against NFC East teams. I read a statistics that said the NFC East is the only division where all 4 teams have won a championship. That's pretty impressive.....Overall, the game was pretty good and hopefully the giants make the playoffs next year.  If they do, I hope obj and sterling shepard don't take a picture on a boat with timbs.

I met a famous person today....

This semester I have an internship with the DCIAA, which is the governing body of sports for DCPS.  I started the internship at the end of October, but I was only going into the office only on Fridays.  This semester I've been able to be more involved in some of the events and office work, and today was a big day for DCIAA. They held their annual Women in Sports conference at The Line hotel. 4 student athletes (girls)  from about 6 DC public high schools were invited to attend the event and get a chance to talk to some very important woman in DC sports. The panel consisted of 5 important woman, but the main star of the event was Elena Delle Donne! Seeing the excitement on some of the students faces as they were taking pictures with her was cool to see. I don't watch the WNBA much (probably only once a year during finals round). Elena Delle Don is one of the few players in the league that I know. I'm glad I got the chance to meet her today.  She spoke to me twice on two different occasions:) I didn't get a picture with her because for some reason I forgot to ask.....BUT I got her autograph:)

Superbowl weekend

So, for some fans this weekend is a pretty special weekend because their favorite football team is playing in the biggest event in football: THE SUPERBOWL.  I'm not happy though....I don't like either of these teams. Well, I can't really say I'm not happy because this year I haven't been that interested in football.  My favorite team is the Giants, and they were either the second or third worst team in the league, which is probably why my interest in football was no where to be found this season.  Once Odell Beckham Jr's season ended due to injury, I stopped watching the games. I wanted the Vikings to beat the Eagles so that way it would have been easier for me to chose which team I wanted to win the Superbowl. Vikings vs. Patriots I would have chosen the Vikings.  I hate the Patriots just like everyone else, and the Eagles are a division rival.  If the Eagles win, then fans in the NFC east can't make jokes about Philadelphia having no rings.  I have a few days to figure out who I'll be rooting for on Sunday.  Most likely I'll reluctantly pick the Patriots. Boooooooo!  But I want the ringless eagle jokes to survive.