They didn't win a preseason game last year, and hadn't won one this year, so this has to represent some progress, although it was against arguably the worst in the league, without their best player, Rudy Gay. Still, I'll take it.
Finally, Beasley, Haslem, and Marion started in the frontcourt. Beasley got 2 fouls in the first couple of minutes and had to sit down. Foul trouble limited him to 20 minutes, which will most probably be his biggest problem this season - but in that time he scored 19 points, 9 in the fourth quarter. Wade continued his strong play with 25 pts, 5 rebs, and 6 assists.
Surprisingly, Chalmers showed some life: 9 assists and 6 boards to go with 7 points in 29 minutes for MC. Quinn started but played only 15 minutes; Banks played 30 in addition to Chalmers' 29. Shaun Livingston is scheduled to try to play later this week in one of the final two exhibitions.
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Odds and Ends:
Dos Minutos favorite names:
1) By a wide, wide margin: Kenny. Kenny's that I have known and loved: Plumber, Ken Howard, my uncle Ken, belligerent Jew Kenny Israel, The Posner, Kenny from the Real World. I am conditioned to like anyone named Kenny, and I have never disliked anyone named Kenny.
2) Gavin.
Dos Minutos least favorite name:
1) Eric or, alternately, Erik. You know who you are. There is only one palatable Eric: Webster.
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More Odds and Ends:
Each time you copy a computer file to disc, a little sharpness gets lost in the translation. That is why The Captain and I prefer to keep our pornography on our hard drives. Copying it to disc and losing some of the sharpness takes the romance out of it.
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This week's book review:
From Roosevelt to Truman: Potsdam, Hiroshima, and the Cold War by Wilson Miscamble.
Miscamble writes sympathetically about Truman, essentially arguing that his decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was appropriate in light of the circumstances because: 1) it is a reasonable expectation that some lives - both American and Japanese - may have ultimately been saved by the action, 2) he could not have survived, politically, a ground invasion, and 3) Japan abandoned any claim to the moral high ground through its atrocities in China.
Miscamble also applauds Truman's efforts in the immediate aftermath of the German surrender. Although he may have appeased Russia for a few moments longer than Miscamble would have liked, ultimately his decision to stifle Russian attempts to expand their influence beyond Eastern Europe was effectively executed, and laid the groundwork for U.S. policy over the next four decades, ultimately resulting in the fall of the Soviet Empire.
Miscamble does not assign any great intellect to Truman, but considers him resourceful enough to be effective. A well argued book, with a wealth of resources to potentially investigate for further research. Miscamble is Australian, though he has lived in the United States for many years - he is a professor at Notre Dame. He will be lecturing at my school tomorrow - if Thor has any specific questions for a fellow "expat" he should please forward it to me.
