25 Random Things...Revisted

I'll try not to make a habit of this, but I wanted to post something for you all before I left for Cleveland tomorrow, and I don't particularly have anything new to say. Therefore, I am reposting the 25 Random Things survey I took on Facebook awhile back, with some changes/additions to bring it up to date and spice it up for those who already read it. For those of you waiting for a comedy show, I am going to use the downtime on the plane home to refine some jokes and come up with some new ones. I want to work on honing them and working on the delivery after a 2nd small show that didn't go as well (but I realize that will happen if I decide to continue this and I learned two very key lessons: a) Don't do comedy after more than 3 beers and b) Pay attention to your material and not the audience's faces: yeah, I'm looking at you two :P). I'm planning the big "just-for-friends" debut in mid-July!

1. I am absolutely obsessed with Cleveland Sports, and if you’ve known me more than 2 hours, you probably know that.

2. I quote movies and television shows a lot, and if you've known me for more than 10 minutes, you probably know that.

3. I am generally upbeat and positive person; it takes a lot to get me upset, sad, or mad.

4. I am attempting to take up stand-up comedy. I am enjoying coming up with jokes and working on my delivery, but it has its ups-and-downs.

5. I purchased a guitar about 5 months ago and am trying to learn. After some initial success, I have not been practicing as much, and I am putting most of that time into my comedy now. Can't tell if I'm just multi-talented, or if I just have ADD when it comes to hobbies.

6. I had a blanket growing up that had Winnie the Pooh on it. I don’t remember when I stopped sleeping with it, but it was probably later than it should have been. My Mom got sick of having to sew it back together and threw it away at some point.

7. I can’t get enough of Rock of Love and Real World/Road Rules Challenges, and I don’t care who knows it. I pretty much hope Bret Michaels never finds love, I would miss those crazy bitches.

8. I lost track of what was going on in LOST (no pun intended) about 2 seasons ago, but I don’t care, its still the best show on television. The final season better end well, or I may cry.

9. My very first concert was Michael Jackson (may he rest in peace), it was a present for my 2^nd grade birthday. My second was (MC Hammer).

10. My third (and first one where I bought the tickets) concert was Metallica in High School, needless to say my tastes shifted a little around junior high.

11. I ran hurdles for the Track team in HS, and I was the MVP of the sprinters my senior year. On the flip side, I was 0-3 on making the basketball team.

12. I played just about every sport except soccer growing up. I started playing soccer in my sophomore year of college, now it's the only sport I play regularly.

13. My teachers in first and second grade were nuns.

14. I used to be an altar boy (boy serves the priest during mass, insert obligatory Catholic priest joke here) and a lector (person who reads stuff at mass) in grade school. I went on several retreats and even led one in HS. Now I am, for lack of a better term, an atheist. 12 years of Catholic school will do that for you.

15. My celebrity obsessions are Elisha Cuthbert, Evangeline Lilly, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, and Hayden Panettiere…

16. Fine…and LeBron James.

17. I was up for a job at Kennesaw St. that I really wanted but did not get last year. However, if I did get it, I would most likely not have met my wonderful girlfriend. That's how life runs sometimes.

18. When I was a kid, one birthday I got a whole bunch of He-Man action figures and the Castle Greyskull set to play with them in….I almost never played with them because the castle (in the shape of a skull) freaked the crap out of me.

19. I eventually want to visit the following places: Italy, Sicily, Amsterdam, Australia, and possibly Ireland.

20. I am published in the Journal of Addictive Behaviors. Hopefully soon in a few others.

21. My highest ever bowling score is 214, back when I used to play in a league. I literally hit 199 about 4 times before I broke through and got that 214.

22. I am pretty serious about my exercise and eating routines. I like to think that I get off the train right before obsessive, but its hard to tell from the inside.

23. When I was really little, I was bit by a goat. Thus, making me jumpy around all animals for a very long time. (That’s call stimulus generalization for those of you not in Psychology !)

24. I have 461 "friends" on Facebook. When the hell did that happen???

25. If its a dorky game involving orcs, magic, and numbers, I've probably played it for a short time (e.g., Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, World of Warcraft). I think the quick strategy and math appeals to my ADD brain, but the sticking with it long enough to master it (and thus give up any semblance of cool I may have left) does not.

Some Sad Business and Cavs’ Draft Review

First, let me send my love to Farrah Fawcett and her loved ones. Her popularity was before my time, but everything I saw and heard about her suggests she was a strong and beautiful woman. May she rest in peace.

Second, I want to take a second to celebrate the body of work of Michael Jackson and give my condolences to those who were close to him. He was the first concert I ever went to; my parents bought me tickets for my birthday in 2^nd grade. I am not a MJ apologist, if he did what he is alleged to have done (I suspect there is at least some truth to it), taking the innocence of child is an inexcusable act that he will have to answer for at some level. But despite his personal and legal problems later in his life, he was an icon for an entire generation. The music he made will endure for a long time, and its impact on pop music is still felt today (in the good pop music anyway). At the height of his popularity, his international tours probably did more for American diplomacy than most diplomats do. I hope he can find the peace in death that he couldn't, from the public's perspective, seem to find in life.

Ok, enough of the sadness, now on to happier topics. The first of which is that I did my first dry run with my standup for Ben and Kyle (after a few beers for all of us to lower anxiety). They both said they were quite impressed, and they helped me refine some of the jokes that I was still unsure on. Hoping to do a bigger (and maybe longer) practice run soon, so I will be in touch with those who were interested. I put my name in to do open mic at Sidesplitters, but I have not heard anything yet. If you hear of other opportunities, let me know.

So I promised not to post about the Cavs unless they made a major move. Well, they made about the biggest one they could make, both literally and figuratively. Here is the things I like about getting Shaq. Shaq is a huge presence, both on the court and in the locker room. While he is certainly not the player he used to be, his presence on the court will take some of the scoring load off of LeBron. Shaq is still more powerful than most guys in the league and often commands a double team. Which would allow him to pass back out to LeBron, who will now have the defense scrambling to catch up with him, not a good situation against the freight train that is King James. And you know with his court vision, LeBron will find Shaq for some wide open dunks. I think his presence in the locker room will take some pressure off LeBron to be the guy who always has to answer tough questions after the game and will help everyone relax a little bit more with another big and funny personality around. Also, this move costs the Cavs almost nothing. They gave up Ben Wallace, who was certainly on his last legs and may retire, and Sasha Pavlovic, whose athleticism I have always liked but had little to no role on this team. We are already stacked with small, athletic guards. Also, it doesn’t take away any of our flexibility in the all-important summer of 2010 when we can sign a free agent to help Lebron’s decision to stay (Chris Bosh, anyone?).

So what don’t I like about the trade? I think we need to stay cautiously optimistic. Shaq is 37 years old and has been carrying 300+ lbs for a long time. There is no way to know how his body will hold up this season. But he is as motivated as ever to get another ring before Kobe and show that he deserves one last big contract. He will be given days off throughout the season to keep him playoff fresh. Remember this team won 66 games in the regular season without Shaq. This move is meant to help with the matchups and slow-down offense of the playoffs. It remains to be seen how this will affect the defense and chemistry, but those are two things that the Cavs have hung their hat on for the past few years, so I suspect they can work it out. If nothing else, I guarantee they will be fun to watch.

Finally, the draft. The Cavs “shocked” a lot of people by taking a young kid from Congo, but it was a pretty standard move. They didn’t feel anyone was worth paying at that pick, so they saved some money, and got a potential guy they can stash overseas. Odds are he won’t ever play in a Cavs uni, but you never know. More importantly, this signaled to me the Cavs are saying, “we are playing for a championship this year, and we aren’t going to have 30^th pick rookies contributing significant minutes.” They did pick up Danny Green from UNC later (why must you continue to force me to root for Tar Heels, universe!!!), and he may get some minutes as a perimeter defender, but that would be a bonus at this point. It shows the Cavs have, or at least think they have, some more moves to make to improve this team for a championship run. Those moves may or may not include: re-signing Anderson Vareajo, and/or signing Rasheed Wallace, Trevor Ariza (my personal choice), Matt Barnes, Charlie Villenueva, or Chris Anderson. Other players are options as well, but it should be interesting to watch. Go Cavs!

What is New With Joe?

I know you are all wondering, what is new in Joe’s life? And if you aren’t, then I guess you don’t have to read this, but I will try to make it as brief and interesting as possible (Teaser: There is a surprise twist in #3 that I bet you didn’t see coming!). So without any more waiting, here are 3 three exciting things currently going on with me:

1) I am going to Cleveland to see the family at the beginning of July. The more exciting part of that is that Abby is coming with me, and this will be my parents’ and extended family’s first chance to meet her. I know they will love her as well, but it will great to already have that first encounter behind us. Furthermore, I love you FL, but we are in that 6-8 week period where Ohio weather is actually better than Florida’s. So I am going to soak up that mild sun with medium humidity!

2) Academic job openings are start to come out again, so I get to check the posting websites everyday and imagine the places that I may live. This portion is particularly excited because it doesn’t have any of the work that the application portion has or any of the anxiety that the interviewing portion has. Right now it is all about the possibilities of what I could teach and where I could live, and not the “holy crap I really need to get hired somewhere” that will likely come later.

3) Finally, I have an exciting announcement to make: I am going to attempt to do standup comedy. It is definitely just going to be a hobby at first, but I have started to put together what I think is a pretty decent routine. I think it is something that I could be pretty good at, that will be fun for me to work at, and actually includes some skills that I think will help me with my teaching. I am tentatively looking at some open mic nights (prob either July 9 or Aug 6, depending on how ready I feel), so I will keep everyone posted. I may also be asking some of you to attend a special first screening so I can practice in front of an audience.

Cavs Wrap-up Pt. 2

Finishing off the previous article by talking about what was good about last season, and what the offseason may hold. 

Fourth, it will still be awhile before I can look back and really appreciate this season. But if Cleveland teams continue to not win championships, this will one of the season I will look back at fondly and be glad I experienced. We won 66 games in the regular season, swept the first two rounds in the playoffs, and had the Coach of the Year and MVP. We saw the emergence of Mo Williams who, although it doesn’t appear he is that 2^nd superstar, should play a large role for this team for years to come. We got to watch the beginnings of J.J. Hickson and Darnell Jackson, both of whom I believe have a place on this team in the future. We got to see LeBron take his game to a new level, including the two playoff performances mentioned above, and he committed so much to the defensive end, that he almost took home the Defensive Player of the Year award too. Some might say that if I think they were so good, how could I be so pessimistic that they couldn’t come back in the series against Orlando. Simple, in the end, the Cavs are who we thought they were, or at least, who we should have thought they were if we were paying attention. Six of their losses came against the 3 other elite teams (Orlando, Boston, and the LA Lakers). Of the other 10 regular season losses, 7 were to playoff teams. So in essence, the Cavs showed up every night, played tough defense every game, and let LeBron do the dirty work in the 4^th quarter if necessary. However, they just didn’t have the talent yet to match up with the other elite teams in the league.  But… 

For the optimistic part, I think they have a very good nucleus and obviously a tremendous superstar. This offseason could go a long way to making them the team to beat. They have a number of trade assets, and a couple of different ways to sign some free agents (i.e. the midlevel exception). Dan Gilbert will do anything he has to do to pay for a winner because he knows his investment takes a big hit if LeBron walks after this season. If this Shaq deal goes down (with us only losing salary, and not key talent), I think that helps with the power down low problem quite a bit, and if not, there are other possibilities out there. After that, they need to work on some length on the perimeter, and I would like to see them sign two of the following guys: Jason Kidd, Trevor Ariza, Matt Barnes, Charlie Villaneuva and maybe, as weird as it sounds, Carlos Boozer or Rasheed Wallace. Acquisitions like those, added to what is already in place, I think makes them the favorite to go the distance next year.

So that’s it, I am done talking about the Cavs until either October at least, unless they make a big acquisition I feel a need to comment on. Thanks for sticking with me through that; it was very therapeutic. 

Cavs Wrap-up Pt. 1

My apologies for the hiatus. I knew my next article was going to have to be about my Cavs getting beat the Magic, and it has taken me awhile to really process it. I recently realized, when a friend sent me a YouTube video showing LeBron’s playoff highlights from this year, that I am not ready to look back at it visually and/or enjoy the good parts of the run just yet. However, I have mostly recovered and am ready to at least talk about the team, the season, and their accomplishments with as much objectivity as is possible for me. 

First, hats off to the Magic, and all of you Magic fans out there (several of whom I have talked to, and have mostly been very nice about the beating they gave us). They played a hell of series, shot an incredible percentage, and never let up once they knew they had a chance to beat the Cavs. They are incredible team, and they create mismatches for a lot of teams because of their length. Unfortunately for them, the Lakers are not one of those teams. This has made me feel a little better, as I don’t think the Cavs would have beaten them, for the same reasons they lost to the Magic: the Lakers are taller, stronger, and have good compliment of lengthy perimeter players who can shoot. So, I take some solace in that this probably wasn’t the year for a championship (more on this later), although one more series victory would have been nice.

Second, despite how good a team the Magic are and how well they played, I believe the Cavs were a slightly better team. But, the Magic were perfectly built to beat the Cavs. As I said in my preview way back when, they had power and size down low, forcing us to more or less double Dwight Howard and/or foul him 25 times a game. The latter strategy led to a) our big men being in constant foul trouble and b) free throws for Dwight Howard that he suddenly started hitting. The doubling strategy led to the Magic swinging the ball out and around to 3-point shooters, who because of their height, even though our defense closed out pretty well, they could still shoot over the defenders and drained some pretty amazing shots. As Chris Broussard recently said, the Cavs had built their team to beat Boston, and probably would have, but now you will likely see them make moves to make sure they can beat either team, not to mention the Lakers and other West contenders. 

Third, I got a lot of comments about “how well I was taking the loss.” I am not sure whether I consider this a compliment or not. J  On one hand, I consider it a sign of maturity that I can take losses with some dignity and not let it get me completely down. On the other hand, I consider it an affront to my fandom if people think that them losing like that didn’t hurt me, rest assured it did, very much so. I contribute my calm-ish demeanor afterwards to these factors. A) Game 1 hurt real bad. Andy is really the only one who can attest to this, as well as a few people that I vaguely remember talking to over chats. I had still believed we could beat the Magic pretty handily before that game, and that game not only shattered that illusion, but put the Cavs in a very problematic situation series-wise. I got most of my anger out that night and the next day while partaking in some mildly destructive behavior. After that, it was a slow march to what was basically inevitable. B) Game 2 and 5 were redeeming moments for the team. We got to have one of the greatest playoff shots ever and one of the best fourth quarter takeovers by one of the best players on the planet (LeBron, of course), during a series where it now appears we were overmatched.  C) By the time the series actually ended, Abby was back to comfort me, everything else in life was going well, and I had expected the result for a while. It helped me to put the result in perspective and try to get excited for the offseason and who we might pick up to help the team.

To be continued on Wednesday...