Friday, June 01, 2007

I have three observations about last night's game in which Cleveland defeated Detroit in double overtime:

1)Both teams are going to be dead tired and leg weary when the next game is played on Saturday night, but it is going to affect Detroit much more. Antonio McDyess MAY be suspended, which means their already thin bench will be a bit thinner. Plus, with the exception of Tayshaun Prince, the rest of Detroit's starting five are in their 30s, and this time of year EVERYONE is tired, but they will deff nett lay(br'ish accent) feel it more. At this point, I think Cleveland would give the Spurs a better contest in the NBA finals anyway, because they will be fresher.

2)I know I am hard on Lebron James for own personal reasons, but last night he was incredible. That was a Jordan like game on every level. He finally stopped being a punk, and he stuck up for one of his teammates, he had a playoff scowl on his face, and he had that its MY team swagger in his game. It looks like he finally gets it, which means we may have to get used to seeing Lebron go this deep in the playoffs. Although, I still say, that if my beloved Washington Wizards had been healthy, we would have defeated Lebron and the rest of his squad in the FIRST round.

3)Chauncey Billups can no longer have the nickname Big Shot. I am taking it from him, and giving to someone else like an adult movie star or something. You can't be known as Mr. Big Shot if you miss a shot at the end of regulation, and then another that basically lost the game for your team. That makes you a choke artist, which is consistent with what he has been doing during this entire series. If Detroit doesn't win this year, this team will be broken up, and it will start with Chauncey. I would write what Chauncey's underground nickname is, but its not politically correct to say here. But THEY can say it for me.

So yesterday, I had to call someone whose name was: Xuan Huong. I had never spoken to this woman, or heard her name pronounced, and I had to call her up and speak with her for business purposes. Now I am sensitive to correct name pronunciations, because people constantly butcher my name. I get called Richard, Rashidi,Rasheed, Roshaun, and everything under the sun. If people get it wrong the first time, I have no problem correcting them, every other time after that, you are just ignorant. So, in an effort to not embarrass myself, I called my friend Folayan, who is a world traveler, and someone I thought to be smart in such matters. Folayan had not a clue in the world how to pronounce this name, so she suggested I speak to this woman very slowly, so that when I got to the pronunciation of her name, she would jump in and correct me. I put this bit of advice in my mental rolodex, and then called my dad, who didn't answer. So, I decided to venture out on my own, and call this woman. It was just my luck that she did NOT answer the phone, and I got a voicemail at her place of business, which meant I HAD to say her name so that she got the message. I'm not going to tell you how I said her name, but I may as well have called her a racial slur, because I'm sure I got it WAY wrong. Before and after I said her name, I apologized on her voicemail, but I felt small while doing so. Then, on cue my dad called and gave me what he thought to be the correct pronunciation, and then right after that Xuan called me back, with the REAL pronunciation, and when I tried to apologize, she blew me off and I felt bad. But that was yesterday..today I feel like she needed to lighten the hell up. People with difficult names should have a sense of humor about these things the FIRST time around. If I was a repeat offender, she could kick me in the mouth, but I wasn't. Just now I learned that her name is Vietnamese, so I vow to never get a Vietnamese name wrong again. That being said, I don't remember how to say her name, which is why I have yet to spell it out phonetically in this paragraph.


Rock Me Amadeus - Falco

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I went to sleep toward the middle of the third quarter because I figured Detroit had it. I woke up this morning, clicked on ESPN and was like, "what the freak happened"
Guess I missed a great game. I'm not counting he Pistons out just yet....or do you think I should, LOL

Rashad, just imagine me trying to pronounce that name...

TM said...

Questions - Again, what is your problem with LeBron James? Who gave that Chauncey person that nickname? And is it just me or do the players in their 20's look like they are in their 30's and the 30's in their 40's?

Janelle said...

My man and the Pistons are gonna pull through, and win the finals. Now that he will finally have the ring he wants and deserves I will get the ring I want and deserve. hahahahahahahahaha (oh I love my creative mind...LOL)

Oh and take it from someone who has been called Jeanette and Jeanine and just the other day Alana, you fucking up her name is not the first time nor the last time it will happen. Thats why she blew you off (not literally of course...hahahahahaha)

Anonymous said...

people call me michelle, denise, /NEE-shole/. i just don't get it.
and when i correct the spelling of my name, people act all surprised.
"wow. with an H?!"
yes, muthaphucka. it's really not that hard to understand.
and i don't even want to talk about the lame discussions i have when i correct the spelling of my nickname.

as such, i try to be sensitive to the correct spelling and pronunciation of names as well.

BewRadley said...

Long live King James!! The Cavs got this..and u really should retire that bri'ish accent...it's wack son!

Jo said...

Looser . . .you STILL can't pronounce it after all that.

The smoke from the fire MUST be getting to your head and affecting your memory! LOL!

And on another note, I think I figured out what your problem is . . . you have WAAAAAYYYY too much guilt. What's that about. In the last two weeks you have written more than twice about how guilty you feel about something. What's that all about?

Nina said...

this is hilarious i am at the airport literally laughing out loud and people are staring. i am pissed that you still don't know how to pronounce her name (since i have to interact with her on a regular basis and STILL don't know how to say her name after about 9mos). Fortunately for me I have discovered clever ways to avoid having to say her name. But this blog has cleared up enough...I now know that she is vietnamese (sounds ignorant, but it's true) and i now know that i should never apologize for saying her name incorrectly bc like you i prob won't get it even after she says it correctly.

Also, I think you should thank yolanda for paying such close attention to your blogs. I am glad she was able to pinpoint the problem--she is prob. right!