I hate to be one of those people who jumps to conclusions based on seeing a little bit of something, as opposed to a full body of work, but man the Miami Heat looked old last night.. Dwyane Wade gets a pass because he is playing hurt with a separated shoulder, but the rest of the team look ancient. Shaquille allowed Ben Wallace to out muscle him, force him into turnovers, and he just made him look tentative. None of the role players, who were so instrumental in helping Miami win a title, did anything of consequence last night. And the bottom line is that the Chicago Bulls are younger, more athletic, and they have many more weapons than the Heat. I could be dead wrong about this, and Miami could come back and win the next two games, and eventually the series. But I sincerely doubt that. And I REALLY want to see The Daddy get another title before he retires, but I just don't see it happening. I could write much more about this subject, but I don't want Miami to come back and win, and then I'll be left looking stupid.

In the second game, we saw Shaquille O'Neal's ex teammate, Mr Kobe Bryant, and his Los Angeles Lakers looked ten times worse than Miami. At certain times during the game, it looked like Kobe was pouting, instead of playing hard; however, given the fact that he has scrubs for teammates for the most part, I really don't blame him. And even though Shaquille has had much more success than Kobe since their separation, I know last night they could have used each other. But again, so many people are quick to make assumptions just based on two games and not an entire series, so we shall see.

These basketball games are messing up my sleep patterns man. Last night I was in the bed, on the phone, and getting ready to go to bed since the Lakers were getting their ass kicked. But then I decided I wanted to watch the rest of the game, so I got up out of bed and watched the rest of the game. As a result, I went to bed at 1am for the second consecutive work night. Not to mention, after I watch these games, I feel like I want to go out and play some basketball myself, so I can't even fall asleep right away. This is a vicious cycle man, but it is one that I MUST endure. Last year at this time, I had a girlfriend and I had to compromise a game or two to spend with her. Now she's long gone, and I can get back to my normal behavior, but it is taking a toll on me. I don't want sympathy, I just want my dedication to be celebrated and recognized.

David Halberstam died two days ago, and I feel bad that I have never read any of his books. He's one of those writers who mastered every facet of journalism he tried. And he's also one of those writers that other writers were in awe of, and I kept saying that I was going to read one of his books, and now I can't put it off any longer. Apparently, he died on his way to conduct interviews for a book he was working on, which makes it that much more sad..in a way. The flip side to that is this man was 73 years old, and he still had the fire necessary to not only write the book, but conduct his own research as well. At that age, many authors are putting out anthologies of their work, or they are teaching at a university and writing articles here and there, just trying to ride off into the sunset. This man was out and about and still working on a book, and I am so sorry I didn't appreciate his work earlier, but it is certainly not too late. I think I'll start with this one. It is also a reminder to me personally, that I need to be writing constantly, and not resting or claiming i'm too tired.

Leave Me Alone - Michael Jackson