18.6.10

NBA Finals 2009-10

The Court Advantage and The Fans
Having been at the Staples Center once (for a Lakers game btw) when I lived in Santa Clarita, I must say that the Lakers' fans are hardcore, real fans. A Lakers game at the Staple Center is not just something to see, it's really something to experience. It's the fans who make that place alive. The team feeds off its fans. I've never been a Kobe Bryant fan, or a Lakers fan (do I really need to say that?), but while seeing him play that day, it was simply obvious that his level of game was way superior than everybody else's on the court. And on that day (warning! confession!) I joined the crowd and cheered for the Lakers. LA fans are proud, but I don't blame them. It was going to be tough to beat their team in their home court. Their team will go to bed - or to party, it's LA after all - tonight with a champion's ring in their finger. If it had been the Celtics, we wouldn't have been any less proud.

The Teams' Historic Legacy and The NBA Finals
One of the special aspects of this final series is that it happened between two of the teams with the most celebrated legacies in NBA history. The Lakers and the Celtics have historically been at each others necks during many regular seasons, but moreover during the finals. Their combined record of championships is impressive. They didn't dissappoint tonight with a breathtaking final game that could've been any team's even to the very last minute.

The Players and Their Injuries
It is beside the point to say that these players are elite basketball players. In combined 2009-10 regular and post-regular season games both teams played more than two hundred games. Basketball is a contact sport, which means that the risk of injury is higher than in non contact sports. The level of exhaustion as well. These guys must really be in shape or else they wouldn't be athletes or playing basketball at the level they do. Some of them love the game so much they are willing to play injured. Case in point, the same Kobe Bryant.

The Pay
I personally think these pro basketball players are seriously overpayed. The amount of money they receive for dribbling and shooting a ball is sickening. Granted, they're really good at dribbling and shooting the ball, but it's still unjustifiable to get a million dollars let alone 10 for doing that. However, I can assure you that they were not thinking about their paychecks during the finals much less the game tonight. They had one thing in mind for which they both had an equal shot at winning and that was the championship. The best one of two incredibly outstanding teams came out on top.

The Coaches
As the players so the coaches. The best two coaches in the NBA today brought their love of the game, their knowledge and strategy to the floor to face the other. I wanted Doc Rivers to win, but it happens he was facing the great Phil Jackson. If I recall correctly he used to coached a guy named Michael Jordan sometime back.

The Referees
Thank God for the referees tonight! They let the best teams in the game really play against each other. They didn't call fouls when they should've and that shows they knew these guys were ready to play and give their best against each other and still keep it "cool". I believe the refs were ready to bring the game under control had it gotten out of hand. They never had to and allowed us to watch one of the best games ever in NBA history. It was a low scoring game in which every point was hard fought, every rebound the same. A nail biter till the end. Thank you, refs, for giving us a game to remember! You were the heroes tonight!

God
So what does God have to do with any of this? The rock band Kiss has a song that says "God gave rock and roll..." Well, I don't know about that, but I do tell you, God gave basketball! Yes, he did! And he loves this game so much he didn't even care about letting a buddhist coach win all those championships, including tonight's. "I might as well give it to someone who really, really believes that this game is a spiritual game," we can imagine God saying. If God had consulted me, I would have told him that it's discriminatory to give so many championships to the same person. I think he would have said, "Discriminatory against whom?" And I would have told him, "Against every other religion!" He would have told me, "Nobody takes his religion as seriously as Phil Jackson!" It's a good thing he didn't consult me. I tell you, God gave basketball to us all!

11.6.10

¿quién juega? ¿Quién juega? ¿Quién Juega? ¿QUIÉN JUEGA?

Los Celtics de Boston demostraron esta noche que son el equipo con mayor aplomo en la actual serie final de la NBA. Los Lakers continúan jugando como lo que son, los campeones. Sin embargo, cuando todos los elementos celtas entran en juego son una fuerza incontenible, tanto ofensiva como defensiva. Uno de los elementos del juego de los Celtics esta noche lo fueron las transiciones rápidas luego del rebote defensivo. Aun a los Lakers les costó mantener el paso en cada una de esas transiciones. Esta serie es ya un clásico de la NBA. Los Celtics ganarán en siete juegos (siempre puedo equivocarme pues no puedo predecir el futuro). Y lo lamento mucho por los Lakers... perderán el campeonato en casa.

5.6.10

Mi preferencia es O+ / My preference is O+

Así que entro al Centro de Donación de Sangre de la Cruz Roja en Fairfax y luego de ser cuestionado acerca de un montón de cosas incluyendo en dónde he estado en los últimos 12 meses (en muchos lugares y visto muchas cosas), me pregunta la tecnóloga, "¿puedes por favor decir tu género, masculino o femenino?(!)" Como la pregunta me causó curiosidad, le pregunté cuál era el propósito de la misma. Ella dijo que la Cruz Roja decidió hacer esa pregunta porque a veces la gente suele cambiar de género y al preguntarles su preferencia de género tenemos la información más actualizada de ellos. En otras palabras, "evitamos ofender a alguien al darles la oportunidad de decir su preferencia."  Biología vs. preferencia. ¿Acaso no somos poderosos?

So I get into the Red Cross Blood Donation Center in Fairfax and after being questioned about a ton of things including where have I been in the last 12 months (many places and seen many things), I'm asked by my attending technician, "Could you please state your gender as male or female?(!)" Since I was curious about the question, I asked her what's the purpose of it. She said the Red Cross decided to ask the question because sometimes people are known to change their gender and by asking them their gender preference we have the most updated information about them. In other words, "we avoid offending anybody by giving them the chance to state their preference." Biology vs. preference. Aren't we powerful?

3.6.10

La Biblia en 90 Días

El 26 de septiembre de 2008 comencé a leer la Biblia en 90 Días. Hoy, 3 de junio de 2010, 616 días después (más de an~o y medio), terminé la lectura de la Biblia. Mi nuevo reto es lograr leer la Biblia en menos de un an~o. Ya veremos como me va en esta segunda ocasión.