Yaoooo owwwwww Sporting Info NEWS words!

Man, I have to admit, I am really enjoying this explosion of trades we're seeing in the NBA. I would enjoy the game and the season without any of this soap opera reshuffling, but it only makes it that much better. This year"s Mavs: the Lakers. Fools left and right are trying to annoit them the new kings... sounds familiar.

What people fail to understand: all of this activity is in response to the Spurs, GMs recognizing that the road goes through San Antonio. I'll admit a slight bias towards the Spurs, but, at the same time, they are the team to beat. Only 5 points in the 1st quarter though - that isn't going to cut it. L.A. is more talented this year - as is the entire West - it will be the most competitive post-season I have ever seen. However, I have been noticing a lot of creative commentary, suggesting that the Spurs are not necessarily the strongest team out there, but after the recent Tim Thomas trade, it's surprising the talk continues. This is a team built for a 7-game series. Most other teams can make it to six - and that is the main need Cuban fails to address with his trades. Jason Kidd???! How does that address the weakness of the team? Dirk has yet to step up to his potential and control a series, which seems less and less likely as he faces his 11th NBA season. You have to think Cuban knew something about Harris to pull the trigger there.

I don't understand the show "Around the Horn" at all. These guys sit around and talk about nothing, and some central host guy hits a button whenever he feels like it, awarding points to the talking heads. And then, time expires and one of the talking head guys disappears and can't talk. It makes the talking head sad to be muted, but man, some of these guys are so off base!

Finally, Yao. It's really unfortunate for Rockets fans, but Yao is simply inconsistent. He has yet to carry the team like he should. If their management had any sense, they would admit this team cannot put it together and get out of the race now. Seattle is positioning themselves to dominate the West in a few years; with Oklahoma City looking to score a team, this region is going to be even more competitive. It'll be fun to watch Durant win over the OU fans. They'll forget he was (briefly) a Longhorn.

Man, it is difficult to watch people distance themselves from Roger Clemens. I mean, it is sad, but what is really sad is that it isn't surprising. Who wants to go to a Jose Canseco party anyway? You're just asking for trouble. It's like going to the club with Pacman. Although, I enjoy the atheletes who take pride in making it rain. How scary would a Congressional inquiry be? Jesus. Congress is going to take down baseball once and for all. Honestly, is that a bad thing? The American Past time, as much as I loved it growing up, is in trouble. I think that people are going to demand that they take things out of Cooperstown. Or maybe I'm just misremembering things. That's been happeningly a lot to people lately.

Yay! The Oscars!!!!

Was I not at your Oscar party? Were you sad? Well, don't worry, since my wife is going to make me watch this I might as well sit here and give you my smart-ass remarks, in case you're feeling a void in your life.

I miss this year's Golden Globes. A press conference? Only one hour? That's the way to do it... Anyway, this year's Oscars will be a bit shorter thanks to the DVR. But still, it drags. And the song performances ... ugh. They should cut those down, maybe do all 5 at once, and the viewer can just pick the one they like, because no one has seen any of these movies.

John Stewart - that's so much better than Robin Williams or Ellen. He got in a Norbit joke - and those are always solid. Political jokes ... meh.

Transformers got screwed hard in special effects. It got beat by some polar bear movie. Recount?

Owen Wilson? Didn't you just try and kill yourself? What are you doing here? Go get some help. But first, tell me about the animated short film nominees.

The mom from American Gangster is up for an Oscar? She was on screen for like 5 minutes.

Atonement? I'm glad I missed that one... the little British girl looks and sounds creepy.

Michael Clayton. Lawyer jokes. Still haven't seen it thanks to the usual Netflix backlog. Effing Netflix. But that supporting actress lady - she's paler than I am and her dress is like some kind of velvet trashbag.

Just ate some KFC boneless snacker wings. As good as advertised.

The Scientific and Technical Awards always suck even in their truncated format. I can't imagine actually going and sitting through the entire show. Even with Jessica Alba hosting.

The Coen Brothers. Odd felows. But NCFOM better win it all.

Two Songs from Enchanted? This second calypso numbed with the Wicked chick really makes me want to ... overdose on KFC boneless snacker wings.

The Transformers Conspiracy continues with the sound editing snub. Wait, there's also a "sound mixing" category? It's the same movies people. Can't they just have an "awesomest sound" category and move it along? Transformers now 0 for 3. Screw you Matt Damon.

Every year, they should give an award to Will Ferrell for playing the same role over and over.

That French actress is hot. Not hot enough to make me see her Edith Piaf movie, but she gave a good speech. Always seems like the best speeches are from those who don't speak English as their first language.

My wife informs me the Once co-stars are actually dating in real life. Awwwww. That must be the reason this song is so achingly beautiful (tears welling up). It could be the snacker wing sauce, though. Not sure.

Hey, surprise, it's Jack Nicholson. And all 79 best pictures. One of them was called Cinnamon? More filler that makes me long for the writer's strike to return.

Ahh! It's Rene Zelewiger. I can't spell her name and she is frightening! She's bulked up.

I just lost a bet with my wife - whether that 800 year old art production guy was going to be wheeled out or "escorted" out by some hot dames. I went with the wheelchair. This guy is surprisingly with it for his age. Now he's drifting off like an old coot.

Ahh, Penelope Cruz. When you talk, you inspire me to become a stalker.

Damn. Another Enchanted song. I should have written a song this year for a movie. I could have written one for There Will Be Blood – about drinking your milkshake. Drinking it up.

Glad the Frames guy won. Oh, good, they brought back the Frames guy's girl to give an uplifting speech.

Ah, the Parade of Dead Actors. Or, the time where I go "oh, I thought he/she died already?" and "who is that old person?" I guess in like 30 or 40 years this will be even more depressing when it's Brad Pitt and Gary Coleman.

Sweet. Diablo Cody won. Now strippers everywhere are going to be churning out the scripts.

Best Actor. D Day-Lewis is going to win, but Mortensen - he was a badass in Eastern Promises. Oh, and D Day-Lewis makes a subtle hint that he wants to be knighted.

Getting tired.... Benadryll works people. Sweet. It's over. No Country wins - deservedly so.

Another Reason to Avoid the Ghost Bar

Ahh, another story from my beloved Dallas. Predatory women out on the town, hunting wealthy business men, slipping roofies in their drinks and making off with a Rolex or two. Best quote:

Police say the women should be considered armed and dangerous. In one
case, a knife was involved. And one 21-year-old Dallas man suffered a scalp
wound that may have been inflicted by a high-heel shoe.

Imagine that. You're an overpaid executive away on business, sitting alone at the Ghost bar, enjoying a $15 Coors Light, toying with the idea of cheating on your wife - when BAM - karma rears its ugly head. 30 minutes later your pants are down around your ankles and some chick cracked your skull open with a Chanel heel before snatching your iPod, your computer, leaving you with her calling card, an STD she picked up in Guatemala.

These guys should know better. If any girls came up to me and started hitting on me, I would know for sure it was some sort of scam, either the hidden-camera variety, or the skank-with-tranqulizers bit. I can't imagine the police are working too hard on stopping these girls, either. I would love to be the cop that responded to one of these calls...

Random Thoughts

If this were a category on Jeopardy it would be "potpourri." When I was a teacher, some of the administrators I worked with would call this a "brain dump" - a term I found to be both hilarious and very vivid. We would frequently sit in faculty meetings and brain storm and brain dump about how to make the schools we worked in less pathetic. Most of the answers, unfortunately, involved removing the children, arson, fleeing to Canada, or some sort of involuntary drug regimen for the children involving the lunch lady, meat loaf, and whatever it is they use to make hyperactive children enamored with sitting still.

Anyway, we weren't very good teachers, I suppose, because all of our ideas were completely impractical. Is that a word? Impractical? But that was the situation, and there weren't any practical solutions, but we did what we could. I was thinking about this because I spoke with a former student who is now getting ready for college. He's going to Syracuse on a track scholarship, which is pretty impressive considering how I remember this student. Tiny as can be. But I don't know the first thing about track so being small might help with being aerodynamic. No idea. Anyway, the point is it felt really good to hear how well he is doing, how proud his mom is, and it makes me miss teaching.

Today is Super Tuesday. Living in Texas, there isn't really much exciting about it - sitting and listening to talking heads as the other states get a chance to impact the presidential race. Huckabee wins West Virginia? I didn't know Huckabee was still in the race. If I were a candidate, I wouldn't want people from W. Virginia voting for me. That would terrify me, and, more importantly, if W. Virginia votes for someone, you know it terrifies the entire country. Of course, I say this without any idea of who has won past primaries there. It's just a guess.

I might have Obamamania, and my support is mainly based on intangible things - because I don't see a huge difference between Obama and Clinton on the issues. From what I understand, there are differences there, but mainly in the execution of certain goals, not the ultimate goal. I just enjoy listening to him speak. After eight years of listening to the current administration, I would much rather have someone tell me the country is screwed up, eloquently, than get line after line of smirks, haughty laughs, and condescending half-truths. It will be interesting to see how many young voters come out in favor of Obama - I think it will make a big difference.

I've also been thinking about a Burger Tax. I don't why, or why it's capitalized, but I think if we could somehow coerce McDonalds into giving us a cut of profit for the problems they cause, that would be responsible of the company. $0.25 from every Baconator – that would add up quick.

Kay Jewelers. Damn. Thought we were done with these commercials once the holidays were over, but then, bam, right during some basketball game: the-trying-to-guilt-me-into-buying-some-crap-no-one-wants-for-Valentine's day-commercial. Imagine how much your significant other must love you if he/she gets you some $99 2-karat piece of mass-produced shit. I continue my boycott of Kay Jewelers. I invite you to join me.

Finally, the Super Bowl… I guess the lesser of two evils prevailed. If I close my eyes and imagine Eli Manning isn't on the Giants, they are almost a likeable group, and they did beat the Cowboys. When Bill Belichick opens his mouth, it's a very strange thing. He comes across as creepy, angry, disdainful, and intelligent, all at once. I imagine his office is full of medieval torture devices, Nietzsche books, and posters of Oliver North. If he hit his kids, it wouldn’t surprise me.

Time to watch some election results – Tom Brokaw is all fired up.