Basketball Reunion

Ten years ago the Westhampton Beach High School boys basketball team made history. They went 28-0 winning the class B state and federation titles in New York State. This past friday the team gathered at the high school to be honored before the last home game of the season for the high school team.

What a great time it was. Getting to see old teammates and coaches was soo great. It gave me chills to be back on that court after ten years and having people applaud you when your name is mentioned. During the high school team's game we sat as a group and cheered the boys on. Two of the assistant coaches when I played (Jack and Bill) currently coach the team and they were running some of the same plays we ran 10 years ago. Dwayne said, "they are running the trap and it is giving me chills!" I knew exactly what he meant because it brought back memories (great memories) from a decade ago.

Sitting in the coaches locker room before the game and reminiscing with my old teammates and coaches was priceless. We talked about anything and everything and soo much excitement filled the air. All of us know how special a bond we have. Being the only team in long island history to ever go undefeated and win everything is an amazing accomplishment that all of us are soo proud of and knowing we did it with childhood friends makes it that much more special. With most of us growing up together and playing together from the age of 8 and 9 accomplishing what we did on the basketball court was special.

After the game we shot around a little bit on the court. I was shooting threes from halfcourt, dwayne and lucion were throwing down nasty dunks. Roc was hitting his threes and talking smack and everyone was just having a good time. After a bit we headed to Finn McCools and hungout some more and just caught up with one another.

As the night ended I had a huge smile on my face. It was probably one of the most happy days in my life thus far because seeing everyone together and soo happy to see one another after all of these years was priceless. What a great night we had and I look forward to our next get together in the future.

The Rivalry

Duke and North Carolina. A storied rivalry. The biggest in college basketball and one of the most intense rivalries in all of sports was resumed tonight. Duke pretty much held the lead the whole game and wound up beating Carolina which is always great. Regarding the game I have a few observations:

1) Duke won the game but Ty Lawson didnt play because of a sprained ankle. He is Carolina's floor general and without him in the game Carolina is just not the same team. Thus even though Duke won I feel they should have because Carolina was missing their star point guard.

2) Duke's inside presence is drastically lacking. Tyler Hansbrough just manhandled the Duke big men as did the other bigs on Carolina. Granted Duke played them tough but I really feel that their lack of an inside presence might hurt them down the road in the NCAA tourney..

3) Greg Paulus is playing great. He is hitting most of his threes and just playing great basketball right now. Lets hope he keeps it up!

4) Duke's perimeter game is probably the best in all of college basketball. They spread the floor soo well, can all shoot and dribble and play soo well together. This is what will carry Duke for the rest of the year.

Anyways I'm glad Duke won this game. Now they are in the driver's seat for the ACC regular season title.

Super Bowl Champs Parade

Unfortunately I was not able to attend the Giants ticker tape parade for winning the Super Bowl because of a thing called work...However I have to say it was great to see the players and coaches on the floats and all the supporters and fans lining the streets and screaming in delight as I watched the parade on the television. The best part of the whole thing was the ceremony that took place at the end of the parade, and the star was Michael Strahan..

The star defensive end of the New York Giants fired up his team with a leap that he calls "stomping you out." And with that, Strahan jumped skyward on the podium at a Super Bowl rally Tuesday, lifting his knees to his shoulders.

"We would like to extend this to every other team in the NFL and particularly for the last team we defeated, the New England Patriots," he said, his teammates standing behind him. "Because you know what we did to you? We stomped you out!"

Simply put this was straight gangsta!! He just put it out there. "We stomped you out!!" I loved his speech and it was great to see the team get keys to the city at the end of the ceremony. What a great day in New York sports history.

Bobby Knight

So a legend has decided to retire. Bobby Knight stepped down yesterday as head basketball coach at Texas Tech, handing the job over to his son Pat Knight. Coach Knight has meant soo much to college basketball. He has taught great coaches of today like Coach K at Duke soo much about the game. Currently I am reading a book about Bobby Knight to get a better understanding of the type of person he was and is. A lot of people look at him as a harsh individual for his demeanor on the court and in press conferences but as a coach he has done a great job with his players. For the most part they remain loyal to him and he has always had a high graduation rate with his players. Lastly Coach Knight prepared his players for the real world and for that I'm sure they are forever grateful.

Words to Live By

"If you hoot with the owls at night you cannot soar with the eagles in the morning"

Super Bowl Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I have been saying this for the past couple hours but I still cannot believe the Giants are Super Bowl champs!! This has to be the biggest upset in Super Bowl history considering the fact that the New England Patriots were UNDEFEATED heading into the Super Bowl. This was a game for the ages.

The Giants defense was incredible. I had not seen Mr. Tee Brady get hit like this all season. Justin Tuck was incredible. His pass rush was soo instrumental in the Giants defense manhandling the pro-bowl laden front line of the New England Patriots. Also the Giants secondary played well. They minimized the big plays the Patriots receivers were able to get. Wes Welker played well for the Patriots but this is ALL about the Giants. Hahaha. GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG Men!!

Eli Manning. Plaxico Burress. The Giants Defense. I dont think anything else needs to be said...Well I am going to continue saying things. Eli Manning was incredible. His poise on the game winning drive is what you see from great quarterbacks like his brother Peyton and Tom Brady. He was cool, calm and collected and when Plaxico caught that touchdown pass for the lead it was surreal. Plaxico played hurt all year and his dedication and hard work and impressive play should be commended. I hope all the critics realize now how good Eli is and how valuable he is to the Giants. He is a legend in the making and winning the Super Bowl and being named the MVP is evidence to how far he has come. I could not be happier for him and the Giants team as a whole. They have been doubted all year. Lastly the Giants defense. They played incredible like I said before and the pressure they put on Brady all game long was awesome. I just feel the Giants wanted this game more than the Patriots and they played like it.

Personally I am soo happy for the Giants. They have come soo far this year and to finish off the season with a Super Bowl title is priceless. This is soo exciting. As I write this, hearing the cheers, cars honking out in the new york city streets from my apartment is priceless as well. Go Giants. We all are soo proud of you and your parade on Tuesday is soo well deserved. Thank you for a season full of great memories and for showing the world how a team can achieve anything if they believe in themselves when no one else does.

Trade Alert!

So word on the street is that Pau Gasol has been traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Javarus Crittenton, Kwame Brown and two future 1st round draft picks. I believe this is a good deal for the Lake show. Kwame Brown is a terrible basketball player and the Lakers still have Jordan Farmar and Derrick Fisher so I feel like Crittendon is not a big loss either.

Now the Lakers will have a very nice starting lineup when all players are healthly. Andrew Bynum at the 5, Gasol at the 4, Luke Walton at the 3, Kobe Bryant at the 2 and D ee Fish at the 1. Off the bench they have Farmar, Trevor Ariza, Vladamir Radmonovic and a couple others. I'm telling you if this team is healthy come playoff time they are going to be hard to beat...