Sonnet: Natalie Portman

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Are Techs' Too Easy Now?

Sunay night the Heat and Celtics battled it on the court, literally. The game was talked about in anticipation because both teams are Finals contenders. Many people were waiting for this match up in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals hence the reason for the technical fouls. The technicals were between Paul Pierce and James Jones and then Paul Pierce and Dwyane Wade. The argument arose if technical fouls were beginning to be called for anything. This is a serious dispute becuase in any professional sport when players are given fouls, card, or technicals they have to pay a fine for misconduct. Apart from this, they begin to get bad reputations around the media. This is the first technica called on both Paul Pierce and James Jones:

video 1
The second pair of technicals and the one that got Paul Pierce expulsed from the game and potentially causing their loss was this play almost immediatly after:


video 2
Whatever the call should have been, doesn't matter. This wont be the last time that they get to see eachother. Emotions are going to be running high when they meet again in the American Airlines Arena.

Tippin' Off The Playoffs

The Semi-Finals began Sunday night. Heat-Celtics and Bulls-Hawks in the East, Thunder-Grizzles and Lakers-Mavericks in the West. Both of these series are promosing.

Lets talk a little about the Memphis Grizzlies. They surprisingly made it into the Playoffs finishing 8th in the Western Conference. Unfortunately they had to play the 1st seed San Antonio Spurs that were coming off a winning spree to finish off the regular season. The series seemed like a sweep in favor of the Spurs, having more than 30 years of experience on their team and even more with their outstanding head coach: Greg Popolovich. This didn't prove to be true. The Grizzlies out played the superstar team in six games. The Grizzlies ended an era of the Spurs, and decided offically the future of Greg Popolovich.

This young and energetic Grizzlie team is not pulling off a lucky streak because last nast they beat the menacing Oklahoma City Thunder 114-101. The game was a duel between two young teams. Although the Grizzlies almost swept the Spurs and have taken a 1-0 lead against the Thunder I'm not filling in my brackets yet because this series will go, to at least, six games.

Old News But New History

This Tuesday LeBron James will revisit his natal team: the Cavs. This match up doesn’t decide the fates of the teams in the post season. With the worst record in the league (14-58) the Cavs will have to watch LeBron James play for the Heat and for the first time in 6 years (when LeBron was drafted) the Cavs will not be in the 2011 Playoffs.
Miami has already begun to think about the post season. LeBron knows that he will not be welcomed with open arms to the Quicken Loans Arena. Although, he said, “Can't get no worse than it was December 2nd,'' after the humiliating 118-90 win over the Cavaliers James said, “"That was a huge step for us.”
Head Coach Byron Scott (Cavs) said that he doesn’t think that the arena will get that crazy as it did back in December. "I don't think it's going to be quite that crazy,'' Byron Scott said when asked. He says that the fans already know what happened last time LeBron went to Cleveland. Although shutting out the Cavs the last time they played, LeBron and the Heat know what happened a few weeks ago when the Lakers strolled into Cleveland and ended up losing.
LeBron James is known to be a clutch player around the league, and the Cavs know that. This Tuesday LeBron will be reunited with his old teammates and fans. After being ridiculed in every stadium this season, Miami, is used to the boos and shouts of the fans. Hopefully LeBron wont feel the pressure of his former city.

Taboo and Basketballs

Last Night, as I sat in front of my computer and looked for blogs to write about: I couldn't. The reason was because I had a basketball final the next day. As I went from blog entry to blog entry and read more about basketball, the anxiety got worse. And I began to think about what makes athletes do the things they do. Since I was a younger I could remember doing certain things before a football game: wearing a "lucky" shirt or buying the same gatorade flavor. The thought of having rituals pre or post game was interesting. So, I investigated. I found out that most athletes have superstitions that they avoid to feel confident. "Athletic superstitions and pre-game protocol rule the sporting world," said Kurtis Larson. And I agreed. Michael Jordan would play with his North Carolina Tarheels shorts underneath his Bulls uniform. In case this doesn't gross you out, Mark McGwire used the same protective cup from highschool. And we cannot dismiss the most famous one today, LeBron James' chalk throwing in the air. These rituals may even include swagger. All these superstitions were fascinating to read. They ranged from a simple use of an item of clothing to wanting multiple shots to the face. As I thought more of these taboos, I concluded that they're as important to a player as the actual game. After reading about the things that professional athletes do, it made me think that no matter how good they are, they wouldn't be as calm if it weren't for these rituals.

Miami And The League

After Miami's 5 game losing streak last week they were undoubtedly the center of ridicule. The rants began from NBA news reporters who spoke strictly upon facts and analyzed the reason why the Heat were struggling, but these were turned into attempts for fans to get a piece of the Heat.

Unfortunately for those who don't appreciate what Miami has done over the past few months, the 5 game losing streak was snapped against the ominous Los Angeles Lakers. Last Thursday, El Heat and Los Lakers(Latino Week) faced off in the American Airlines Arena. The Heat walked away with the win and left the Lakers with something to think about on their flight back across the country.

I was given the inspiration to write about this after watching Miami glide over the number one seeded Spurs and once again proving to be better then they are given credit for. Before the game, I read an article that suggested the same, Miami would need beat the Spurs in order to stop all those rants.

Anti-Star Weekend?

This weekend Los Angeles will host the 2011 All-Star Weekend: Dunk Contest, Three-point Shooting, and the East vs. West. This is the funnest and most enjoyed weekend in basketball for anyone who follows the NBA. The questions begin to circle around, who will win the Dunk Contest? Or, I want to see the West tumble the East(West vs. East).

All these questions surround this event, who will play? Who's going to be the starting 5?However; the questions aren't to debate. I read an article a few nights ago that intrigued me. The article was a debate between two widely known NBA anylists, Chris Broussard and Ric Bucher.

In the article, it mentions that the Weekend is supremely interesting, but, "I think it could use some sprucing up." Said Bucher, who then brought up the idea of a One-on-One tournament. Broussard responded simply, "I'd love to see a one-on-one competition as well, but only if the game's best players participated." Precisely. I thought when I read, no one wants to see "Von Wafer and Shannon Brown" play in a One-on-One. You want to see "Kobe Bryant versus Dwayne Wade in one semi, and LeBron James versus Kevin Durant in the other," pointed out Broussard, that's the reason why the Weekend is what it is, because you have the elite players on one team.

I asked myself, why do I watch the All-Star Game? It was simple, because you get to see something that doesnt happen very often. Like Dwayne Wade playing side-by-side to Amare Stoudamire and Paul Pierce. It's unimaginable. We always criticize the winners of the Dunk Contest or the 3-Point Contest because we know that LeBron James would win everything. And thats why those players dont content, because they have too much to lose when they do. If people saw LeBron James lose the Dunk Contest then he would compromise his status and so I think these tournaments are interesting because you watch ordinary players compete against one another and see the actual talent in the NBA.

'Melo''s Hungry To Do Well

Many professional athletes look and search for ways to improve their playing on the court. Some train numerous hours after practice in the gym to gain body strenght, some try to get a good nights rest, and many simply work on their "catch and shoot" drills. But one player in the NBA has taken on a different approach. Fasting. Yes, Carmelo Anthony is on a fasting diet that appears to be the solution for all those players who are willing to.

Carmelo says, "It was mental. It was spiritual. It was emotional," abstaining from meats, fish, breads, sweets, and soda. I realized that this is absurd because essentilly all athletes that are getting paid the money that they do should be eating right. And finally, one player tries it out and its working? Unbelievabe. I think its wrong to see any athlete taking down a double whopper after practice because its just not the right thing to do. There has to be a downside to being an athlete of this caliber.

Carmelo has been outstanding these past few weeks hes been averaging 35.4 points. This shows that the little things do work, if they take care of themselves just a little bit, that can make the difference from winning a championship or not.

So, the thing that players need to begin doing is just watching out for those little things that can effect their game in a huge way. The way to get hungry and win is well simply to not give into that hunger, stay off foods that are bad for you! Just look at Melo.

The Big Apple or The Sunshine State?

Recently I read an article that proposed a strong statement. The article talked about how LeBron James and Dwyane Wade joining forces was a favor that had been done for New York and that, "New York has Wade and LeBron to thank for all of this." I want to point out that when I read this article I was shocked and began to think about what the author was trying to point out. First of all, we must ask ourselves who wrote this article? The answer is obvious. An angry New Yorker who saw the hopes of the Knicks ever having the potential to contend with the other elite teams in the Eastern Conference blow up. He then goes to comparing stats which isnt a very smart idea because even though Wade and James are outstanding athletes, they dont have much chemistry aside from the fact that they've played together in the U.S.A. National team and the All-Star Weekend games. We need to note that this is their first year playing on the same squad and we cant assume that were going to see magic from the beginning because the National Basketball Association has become fierce over the past decade. The duo has proven to be a threat around the league taking down opponents like the Los Angeles Lakers. The authors attempt to bring down the leagues most watched team and probably most talented was pathetic. He is going to shamefully regret writing this article when Miami wins the Finals this June.

Not Only Their Physical Abilities Matter

The title of the blog that I read was, "The Works: LeBron James Does Battle With Himself." This particular blog involves an infamous "tweet" that LeBron James posted last Tuesday after an epic loss by his recruiting team, the Cleaveland Cavaliers. LeBron goes about posting a considerably offensive statement that simply says: Karma is a bitch. Media and fans shocked that such a great player could have done this, he tries to redeem himself by saying that it was his friends advice and he was merely repeating them. The article continues by demonstrating other coincidences that LeBron shows cockiness and indifference to other teams/players. I thought the title is very fitting for this article because it shows that professional athletes have to comport themselves on and off the pitch, something that many of them never understand. And so this article shows that LeBron is in a "battle with himself" because of all the negative media attention. Well, the author supports his article with other situations and quotes other happenings that tie into what he wants to say.
I chose to compare the previous blog to one that is of another NBA scandal its title is, "Gilbert Arenas Trade: Is Locker Room Gun Scandal An Issue For Orlando Magic?" The title is very specific and a new reader will automatically know what he's going to be reading. After comparing both articles I think that the first article is definitely more suitable and reader friendly, in other words, it gives a more depth explanation and a more thorough description of what happened.
The final blog post that seemed interesting and compatible with both previous blog entries is titled, "NBA Referee Gambling Scandal Bigger than Donaghy?" When I first read this title I knew exactly what I was going to be informed about, but I realized that if I had never heard of the referee scandal then the title would not be as concise as we would want it to be. I then began to think that this article was written for a very select audience, its to say, this article was written for those who wanted to investigate further on the subject, and who already were familiar with the controversy. The blog post itself was in fact very enlightening and I learned that there were about a dozen more referees involved, something that I could have never fathomed of a professional sport. I then began to think, when has this method of fixing mathces started? What championship games, finals, superbowls, world cups, and world series have been rigged towards one side? This scandal obviously started a huge dilemma in all professional sports and till today has not been solved.
Yes, I think this is a good blog because it states a problem that occured in the NBA a few weeks back and it has quotes that support the controversy. Not only does it provide the reader with background information but it also gives the reader quotes of the people involved and these quotes give credibility that what the author is writing isn't a fallacy. I say, that there is always room for improvement in anything we do. So, the author could have maybe given us more information about what actually happened during the incident. Aside from little things, this article was very well written.

Rules to Blogging

A. What does "blog" mean?
B. Define "blogging."
C. What is the difference between a blog and a book?
D. How have blogs changes recently?
E. Why might you read a blog?
F. Is there reason to doubt the objectivity of a blog? Why? Why not?
G. What do you think our blog will be about this semester?

A. A blog is a website that consists of entries that are organized in reverse chronological order, in other words, you see the most recently posted entry. A significant diffence in blogging that you rarely see in any other type of writing is that you receive feedback from your readers all over the world.

B. "Blogging" is the act of a blogger to post an entry.

C. The difference between a blog and a book is that with a blog you can comment and write your own opinion about something having the certainty that you will be anonymous. This is a benefit, but at the same time has been a controvesy because people have gotten hate mail that simply brings the author down for no apparant reason. Books on the other hand, are very formal in their essence for this reason people dont feel as comfortable writing a book then blogs.

D. Blogs have been evolving from the moment they were created, nowadays people use blogs to write about personal issues, informative issues, opinions, and simply because they feel the need to write. This has become a phenomenon in the world of writing because people have a source to where they can write about anything they want.

E. I might read a blog to answer or fulfill a doubt I have about something. Another reason for which I may read a blog is because I want the latest scoop about a news topic.

F. I think that a blog is non-objective because more often than not you will read a blog that leans to one side or the other. As we've seen, blogs have advanced so quickly that you can find another blog that supports the other side of the topic that you are investing with no problem.

G. Our blog will depend on what we want to write about that night. The course is literature and sports journalism so we may be inclined to write about a sports related topic but that is up to the author.