NYC

Well, my big trip to New York has taken me to spme of the best hoops around. Rucker, you ask. No, those guys can't play. Rather, I'm in the north side of Manhatten where I am watching my brother-in-law and team owner, Brian Zeglis, show his skills in a city league.

I'm not sure how they work this thing, but it seems to have an odd set up. There are three teams out here playing in the same game. Frankly, this looks to be some new fangled league where they rotate teams per quarter. Looks fun, and it looks like the classic league where people try to do too much. Here is the real dirty secret, though -- Brian cam really play. Let's hope he gets 30!


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Motivation

I'm sure all of you have had motivation problems in your lives. Not motivated to work, work out, cook, or maybe bathe (a problem I share with many Americans). You know, the usual. Well, I can tell you that I'm not very motivated to write.

Yup, that's right, I'm suffering some writers block, and it is makin this blog suffer. I know I have a decent amount of people (3) who read this blog, and I hate to make you suffer through this awful time in my life.

So, what can push me through these doldrums? I could continue to post my favorite funny clips, but I still feel I have to write something of substance. Yet, I just don't know where to start.

In an effort to push through, I'm going to just write about whatever is on my mind. For example, right now, I am sitting in Midway airport headed to NYC. I always thought I would hate that town, buy it is one of my favorite. I love the energy and excitement and all the culture you find there.

Now, for those who know me, they will be disturbed by that last sentence. I generally poo-poo such comments about appreciating anything, let alone culture, but it is apt here. There are many days I miss my days abroad playing basketball because of all the different people and cultures I would experience. NYC provides me a small piece of that. I would never trade those days for what I have now, but it is nice to be reminded and even share in some of that with my new family.

Want to know what else is on my mind? Salt and pepper shakers.


It is a much debated topic in my family, specifically between my brother and my wife -- does the salt go into the multi-holed shaker or the single holed shaker? Zak and I argue that it is the single one because people want to limit their salt intake. Julie takes the other side for really no good reason. I suppose that makes Zak and I the winners in this debate -- we have a reason for our argument!

By the way, in the picture above, salt was in the single holed shaker.

Okay, enough self indulgent drivel for the day. I will try to better later.



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Season Review: Anthony Kent

In my continuing and long delayed series in which I review the players who finished the year with us, I now turn my attention to Anthony Kent. AK was one of the most improved and impressive players from our second season, and I was really intrigued and excited to see what he would do this past year. With his size, length, and foot speed, I thought he was going to have a breakout season.

Yet, unfortunately, that didn't happen for AK. I think he had a solid season, but AK did not have the type of breakout year both he and I expected. With that said, I think there were some reasons for that that went unnoticed. AK was banged up for much of the year, and he struggled to find a rhythm all year due to a multitude of injuries.

In the end, however, I thought he began to regain his form. Our ace trainer, Marc, really spent time with him and got him feeling as close to normal as possible, and AK rewarded those efforts by playing some great basketball during the last 10-15 games of the season. He was more active, he was more aggressive, and he was really good taking people to the hole.

AK and I have talked and, you never know what happens, but I think he will be back with the Ants next season. AK feels like he still has something to prove, and I am looking forward to getting him here to prove it.

In other news...

I am pretty shocked at how the Suns dismantled the Spurs. They were quicker, tougher, and executed better than the Spurs (something I never thought I would say between these two teams). How can you not love Steve Nash and how he finishes a game looking like Rocky. On the other side, how you cannot feel bad to see one of the greatest ever to play lose his game. Tim Duncan was a shell of himself this series, and I think time and a lot of games has really taken its toll. He could barely move out there, and I can't remember the last time he got the ball in the post, faced up, and shot that deadly banker he had for so long. It looks like they will really need to retool in San Antonio, because they cannot rely on Duncan to carry them any longer. And, no, Richard Jefferson is certainly not the answer.

As for the other series, there really isn't a ton to write about. The Hawks rolled over on the Magic, Kobe and Pau are too good for the Jazz, and the Celts are hanging in with the Cavs. The only series interesting in this group is the Celts and Cavs, and I think we are seeing a changing of the guard in Boston. Forget KG, Pierce, and Allen -- give the ball to Rondo and let him go to work. That was a really impressive game last night, and I will be watching game five to see how Lebron and the Cavs recover.

Okay, enough for today. Hope everyone is well!

The Second Best Mascot on Earth

As you can imagine, I believe our Mad Ant is the best mascot around, but a close second is Benny the Bull. From the very beginning, I wanted to make sure we got Benny out to our games because I think he is just the best. Yet, I never understood what a professional he is until I saw how he continues to put forth such good work even with some sever problems at home. Check it out: