6 Thoughts
1) It's like when you have an old car, and the brakes are stinky, and so you get them fixed, and then you can super, like, stop on a dime, but then the driver's side window won't go down, so you fix that, and then the a.c. goes. And it's summer. And you live in, like, Fort Lauderdale. Or the Equator. Uggghhh.
2) Tonight ball acquisition was really pretty good. Miami outrebounded the Bulls 52-41. Old Jermaine O'Neal was feeling it tonight: 16 rebounds (8 in the first quarter), and he scored 24 points, had 3 blocks and 5 assists. Went "Tilt Jermaino" late in the fourth quarter, spurred on by intense hassling from Bulls professional irritant Brad Miller (whom we love at Dos).
3) Got some shooting from Quentin Richardson, 3 triples and 13 points. That wasn't enough. By the way, Quentin has started virtually every game this year, and has had 7 games in which he didn't score a point. He might be edging up on some kind of record. But tonight he scored 13, and you figure that, coupled with Tilt Jermaino's barrage was the extra push the Heat needed to get a win...
4) ...but no...Dwyane Wade - he was terrible, and thus, Miami really had no chance. He didn't even seem to ever get that invested in the game...Look, pre-season we estimated the odds of his destination this offseason at Miami-85%, Chicago-15%, and New York-5%. I think I am taking Chicago off the list and replacing it with "any other place on Earth." For some reason, Dwyane always struggles in Chicago more than any other building. Part of it is Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich, who lives to guard Dwyane, and defends him well. But Dwyane faces guys like him every night - he just doesn't play well in Chicago...If he wants to sign there this off-season, good luck to him - we'll acquire Kirk Hinrich and know that there are, like, four games we'll win every year right there. To which you might say, "hey, what about the other 78 games, aren't you worried about those," to which I would say, "hey, idiot, it's a joke." Speaking of the other 78 games, as a quick aside, the New Jersey Nets lost again tonight. They're 4-46. Is that even possible? Can someone make sure that our friend Plumber, who is a Nets fan - check that, he's the only Nets fan - is still alive? Can we get some kind of monitor on him, please? And get one ready for me, if this losing continues much longer...
5) Well, we were tied going to the fourth quarter again. And we started Mike Beasley and Udonis Haslem at the power spots again. And instantly, two minutes in, we were down 5 again. And two of the baskets were offensive rebounds (one an "and one") and the other was a short Derrick Rose jumper in the lane. And, once again, we called a timeout and re-inserted a big man, and once again, we never really regained the upper hand in the game. I'm not saying Spo should stop doing this, no, by all means, continue - it could turn around at any moment! Is that overly bitter? I love Spo - I'm sure if he started a big, someone would have dropped consecutive triples. It's that kind of stretch.
6) Well, a lot of ways we could go here at 6 tonight, a joke, a fake celebrity story, a diatribe against the po-lice, what would you like? A joke? Okay, let's go with a joke - just don't expect it to be funny...Did anyone see the cover of Star Magazine in the grocery store the past week? The one with the Octomom on the cover in a bikini? I mean, it is kind of amazing to say, but she looked hot, right? I mean, I couldn't have been the only one who thought she looked at least kind of hot, right? We know she is freaky, a little crazy - that's sexy, right, who knows what is going down in her bedroom! I'm not saying I'm feeling her, or anything, but...I mean, I do also love kids...okay, I like kids...okay, I like my kids...I'm just saying...
Next game is Tuesday vs Houston. Including the playoffs, I have now watched 85 Heat games in a row, dating back to February 22 of last year - haven't missed one all season, an unprecedented Dos run of 51 straight to start a season. Set the all-time Minutos record last year by watching 79 of 82 - that's in serious jeopardy. Thinking about taking Tuesday night off. I could make all kinds of excuses - I have class that night (working on Master's in history, studying about the Nazis this semester - a lot of similarities with Tom Cruise); I have to go to Disney World on Thursday for the weekend; I have a few projects going on at work; the Heat are playing lousy; I am still working feverishly on my "fake memoirs," looking ahead to a 2011 publication date - but, honestly, the pressure of the streak is getting to me. I am having nightmares about tivo malfunctions, and car trouble. This would never have happened to Cal Ripken. Then again, he was on steroids; I'm not. So we may just have to see you when we see you...
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