NBA Pre All-Star Weekend Finals Prediction

So for the last two years I have been priding myself with correctly predicting the NBA Finals teams and the result. Last year, I even managed to predict the number of games in which my C's murked the Lakers. The trick is that I have to do it before All-Star Weekend... and lucky for y'all, it's the first day of All-Star Weekend in Phoenix.

There's no formula, as a friend asked me the other day when I told him that I've done this in the past, there's no money down, hell... I don't even tell people that I made the prediction. But I thought that I would put myself out there this time and see if I have a knack for seeing how this game unfolds. So let's do a mini analysis of the top 3 teams in the East and all top 9 teams in the West.. because let's be honest, no other team has the chance of making it to the finals stage. There will be no 1999 8th Seeded Knicks repeat this year... unless the Jazz are the 8th seed, Boozer comes back 125% and they can torch the likes of the Lakers/Spurs/Hornets/etc.

Let's start with the easy part, the West. Sounds funny that the division that has 9 contenders is the easy part but it is. For one simple reason; Kobe Bryant. All of these teams are good and you can make a case for all of them going to the Finals but they have to get by Bryant's Lakers. The Lakers that are one of the most dominating teams to play the game. I mean, they're nothing like the Jordan-Pippen-Rodman Bulls but pretty close; Jordan/Kobe and a bunch of really good role players. The West standings right now are in this order: Lakers, Spurs, Nuggets, Trailblazers (whaaaat?!), Rockets, Hornets, Mavs, Jazz, Suns. First of all, I can't believe young man Brandon Roy is leading his team right now to a home playoff game --in the first round?! Baller, to say the least. But if any of these teams have a chance to derail the lakers, I'll say the Spurs. They know how to control a game and just demoralize a team. Most Likely Lakers-Spurs again... Lakers in 6...?! Who knows.

Now the tough part. The East. Any of these top 3 teams can go to the Finals. The top 3 being the Celtics, the Cavs and the Magic. The Magic took a big blow when Jameer Nelson was injured putting him out for.. probably the rest of the season. He's neccessary to the Magic if they plan on making it to the Finals. They're a good team without him but they are championship caliber with dude. So what will probably end up happening is that the Cavs murk the Magic in 5 games without Nelson.. if he's there, 7 games. Looks like a repeat Eastern Conference Finals with the C's and the Cavs. The Cavs are hungry this year.. very much unlike they've been in the past. Watch when Delonte West comes back from his injury how well they play and they will probably steel the top place in the East from the C's for more than half a week. Ultimately, however, the C's will reclaim 1st place and home field advantage. The Cavs also have All-Star point guard Mo Williams and are not relying on young dude with the bad haircuts Daniel Gibson as the point guard. Making it really, really hard for me to say that they upset the C's in 7 games. :-(

Dude needs homies to tell him that his
hair ventures are not ok. smh.

The Finals are set, Lakers v. Cavs. Let's not get too much into it but let's just say one future hall of famer does not get another ring and one future hall of famer gets his first. This time 6 games.

I'm telling y'all. The Cavs are hungry. And even if Bynum makes it back for the playoffs, which is highly unlikely, Big Z will give him a clinic.

two times.
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Daily Diversion:

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Visit cornify.com to do this to your own website. For whatever reasons you might have. Read more!

Role Models

If there's one thing that Michael Phelps, Alex Rodriguez, and Chris Brown can teach America's youth, it's this: get rich then get in trouble, and let your agent or spokesperson handle the dirty work.

Has anyone else noticed that 2009 has exposed more phonies than Playboy? I mean, from the jokers who spend $50 million on private jets (American jobs, yes, I know) and $200 million to name a stadium, to those "performance enhancing" athletes (whether it be testosterone or that gold medal kush), to those allegedly abusive "squeaky clean" R&B artists, who are parents supposed to trust with their kids attention these days? Never before in my lifetime have so many cheaters been exposed in such a short period of time. And it seems to be more and more difficult for them to come clean and look sincere...

Personally, I think that cheaters should never prosper (see Marion Jones), but at the same time, everyone should be given a fair shot at forgiveness. I worry about the kids who will watch this unfold (most likely from a video podcast on their brain-melting iPhones) and think that if they haven't been carted off to jail, or kicked out of their sport or their jobs, then it's not all that bad. I know nothing about parenting, but I imagine I would have a really, really tough time pitching the morally high road to my kids. Unless that high road had an exclusive agreement with Fruit by the Foot and Apple Jacks, and the low road only had brussels sprouts and cottage cheese. Read more!

Job Fairs: Get Hired

The economy's rough. You need a job. Check one of these fairs that I found in this morning's copy of amNewYork.

Tuesday - Feb. 10th
Virtual Engineering Fair
Location: careerbuilder.com
Time: 9am-8pm
To register: Free registration at careerbuilder.com. Click on the Advice & Resources link and scroll down to the Career Fairs section.

Wednesady - Feb. 11th
Advertising Industry Diversity Job Fair and Leadership Conference
Location: NYU Helen & Martin Kimmel Center for University Life, 60 Washington Square South
Time: 1pm-530pm
To register: Preregistration closed. Onsite registration available.

Women Job Fair
Location: Affinia Manhattan, 371 Seventh Ave., at 31st St.
Time: 10am-3pm
To register: Free registration at Womenjobfairs.com

Friday/Saturday - Feb. 13th/14th
Japanese-English Bilingual New York Career Forum
Location: Penn Plaza Pavilion, 401 Seventh Ave.
Time: 9am-7pm
To register: Free registration at careerforum.net.

Ongoing
Village Voice Virtual Career Fair
Location: villagevoice.com/microsites/career-fair.


two times.
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Oh Hell No! Diddy gets confused

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words... sometimes it's only worth one word...

I got this pic from Thisis50.com, one of my favorite websites to keep track of hip hop with. Diddy is like 'What the hell is this? Looks like the rest of these but different.. hmm..'

Also the 50 cent and Rick Ross beef is probably one of the most entertaining things in the news.. so if you don't know, find out..

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Montana Syndrome: Or, the Popularization of Not Giving a Shit About Asian America

Confession: The same thought I usually have when I see this poor girl's name in the news crossed my mind when I read this headline: "Ignore it. She is a child. Who goes by Miley. Because that is an improvement on her actual name. Which is Destiny Hope (not kidding). She is nothing to you." But how could you resist a header like "Miley Cyrus Denies She's Racist" and just move along with the rest of the drivel about the latest butthurt Republican salt lick? Really, I'd like to know, because I couldn't. And I'm not sure if I'm a better person for reading the article or not.

There's a problem with the photo in question - one that kills me every time I try to discuss the topic of racism in a multiethnic America, particularly with regards to "Asian-Americans" - namely, the second kid (from left) in the photo.

I'd be interested to hear his thoughts on this whole situation, because I imagine it's all to do with his being there in the first place. Because the fundamental question that needs to be asked in this kind of a situation is: would you pull something like this if a person of East Asian descent was in the room?

Now in a normal, educated setting, the answer would of course be a resolute "no." But that's not what we're talking about here. I would not endure friends like these for very long, and because of my own personal experiences, I read a slight measure of discomfort in that poor guy's face. But I could be totally mistaken. The boy could be fine with it. He's friends with Miley Cyrus, after all.

Which is the crux of the matter, when it comes down to it. That a pop starlet (regardless of what you think of her talent, that is her objective position in society) could so blithely and earnestly deny the inherently offensive nature of that gesture speaks more to the environment she comes from than her character - again, she's a child. Read part of the statement she made earlier today:

I definitely feel like the press is trying to make me out as the new `BAD GIRL'!

To this I say: think a little more carefully, Destiny. You cannot deflect this, or place it amongst the sundry misbehaviors of your teenage-pop-star predecessors. When the press singles out a "bad girl" (take any example you prefer), it's generally because she provides a recurring string of incidents involving profound substance abuse that are fun to photograph. However, at the end of the day none of those photos reveal much of anything in particular about the person in question. Even in the dawn of show business, it was rare for celebrities to be seen en masse as moral compasses, and especially now, women in their 20's who don't like to party are pretty hard to come by. Being a "bad girl" never did and still does not have a thing to do with, to provide another example, hanging out with your One Black Friend and deciding it'd be fun to take pictures of you sitting next to him/her with shoe polish and lipstick on your face.

Why, Destiny, is that "goofy" face you and your friends are putting on not so goofy to your one East Asian friend? Is he just not as funny as you are? Is that it? Just to provide some 101, this is the sort of thing that goofy face originated from:































I could honestly talk about this issue for hours. I have. I hope for a day when the term "Asian" isn't even part of the culture, because it's as meaningless as calling Miley Cyrus "North American." But stories like this remind me that the 20th century is going to be tough to shake, and all I can do for now is declare my objections and then hunt for another glass of wine to cherish and hold close.

Good night.
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Obama defeats McCain....again...Two Times Two Times!!! What A Game!!!

I'm not talking about a presidential debate or the election, because we all know Obama won those by a landslide. I'm referring to their predictions for the winners of the Superbowl. Last night, I witnessed one of the greatest Superbowl games ever; it was very entertaining. Here is a little recap of the game



I cheered for both teams because I wanted to see one good game. However, Senator John McCain was rooting for his hometown team, The Arizona Cardinals. Well, guess which team Obama picked to win...hmmmmm...you guessed it, The Pittsburgh Steelers. Crazy how the young black president chose the team with the young black coach to win. Coincidence...I think not. Sorry John McCain, maybe you should try Connect Four or something.


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