Tuesday, May 19, 2009

THE RETURN OF JC SUMMER SPECIAL PART 1

“I do not concern myself with being consistent in what I say, but with being consistent with the truth as it reveals itself to me.” Mahatma Gandhi

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Autonomy, complexity and a connection between effort and reward are the three qualities work has to have to be satisfying.” Malcolm Gladwell


PEEPSSSSSS!!! What's happenin--It's your old buddy JC. Nice to be back with you. Working on a 3 week layoff here. I am sorry I had a busy couple weeks. I know many of you have had a hard time getting out of bed without new access to my dementia. Got some great stuff to get going with here. For all those who have been very concerned at the access that Rudy Kirbus has been getting on this blog, let me ease your worries. Rudy will not be making another post on this arena unless it is first approved by me. The mass texts and emails and people calling me at all hours of the night asking me why I am letting Rudy write on this fabulous platform have all been taken in stride. I agree that Rudy was diluting the product I am trying to put on the field every week. That criticism is well received. But Rudy has been an integral part of my blog and is one of my biggest critics. We discuss potential topics and he criticizes where I take certain issues. He is going to be heard from again, I guarantee you that. But for the time being, it is going to all me going forward until he has something that has to be shared with the YOUGOTJC peeps.

Where are all the Kerry Wood fans right now? Burying their heads under pillows? I only ask because I know there are many out there right now reading this. And I know this because I have brought them to task and asked them to defend it, which they have not been able to. But the flame thrower really trumped himself tonight. We were up 5-2 in KC about 20 minutes ago. Then, in a span of 10 minutes-- 2 JACKS, a Triple, 2 Walks, and a Sac Fly--6-5 Royals win. That's a guy were paying 10.5 million dollars this year and next year? How unbelievable is that? When I heard we signed him, I was sitting at work. And I remember thinking to myself..."O, hmm okay, thats probably a 1 year $4 million dollar deal with a lot of incentives." 2 year $20.5 mil just floored me. O well. Like my buddy Pat Bujnak said when I shot him a text that said "Fire Shapiro and Wedge," to which he responded: "who are the Cleveland Indians?" And that's completely right on the money. The Tribe has in effect become irrelevant with this terrible start. They have been swallowed by the sea of the Cavaliers and the Browns. Swallowed much more by the Cavs obviously, but the new regime and the fact that football is always gonna be the biggest sport in all the land have put the Tribe out of business. I am gonna get off this topic, but I'll end with Mark Shapiro. That guy is the most overrated GM in baseball. The guy hasn't made a good move in a very long time. He's done C- homework on free agents. He hasn't drafted a good player in quite some time. You look at a team like the Fla Marlins--they got 12 guys under 25 who hit the shit outta the ball to all fields, who run and cause trouble on the bases, who throw their bodies all over the field, etc. Where are all those guys for us? Where are all the gritty as shit young players who can hit? They are out there. We gotta find them better.

Just watched the first half of the Nuggets-Lakers. Looked like we were gonna get a great Game 1 until this sequence happened. Okay, Nuggets up 14. 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Loose ball, Billups finds the ball and leads a semi advantage break. He pulls up for a 3, just a touch long, long rebound Vujacic gets it. 3 ball for Sasha Vu in the corner. Bad possession by the Nugs, comes back, 3 ball by Shannon Brown (what?) Nuggets miss 2 free throws and then they trade baskets. End of first quarter, Nuggets up 8. That 9 point swing is gonna lose the game for the Nuggets in my opinion. If Billups splashes that 3, Phil might call timeout. Those 2 transition 3's by the Lakes never happen. Look I know I'm hammering this small sequence a little too hard. But it in effect killed all my hope of a great series. The Nuggets just do way too many stupid things. They are never gonna beat the Lakers. They are retarded. JR Smith came in and threw the ball all over the court. They make stupid fouls. They give up way too many easy shots, especially, wide open 3's. I hope that they can keep it together for 7 games, but I think they have kind of reached their peak in the "keep their composure department". I really like what Melo did in that first half though. I think he is gonna have a big series. He is playing the best basketball he has played since his legendary year at Syracuse. That REDEEM Team experience was so great for this year's NBA season, especially for Melo and LeBron. I mean for LeBron, it gave him that "holy shit, Kobe has woken up at 6am for 13 straight days to work out for 4 hours before we do any team activities, maybe I should UP my regimen a smidge and get ready to lead my team to an NBA Finals" moment. For Melo, it was more like the: "you know what, fuck that 6am shit, I'm gonna mail in the season like I have been, but I am really gonna start to focus when the playoffs start" moment. Either way, you can really see Melo competing a lot harder than you usually see him. He is gonna go at Kobe Bryant at a very high competitive level this series. That's exciting. But, the Lakers should survive the Nuggets, a little easier than I had hoped.

Lotta great guys in the LA stands tonight. Larry David was sitting next to Spike Lee, right next to Phil Jackson. Denzel was in his usual spot, with his usual NY Yankee hat. Jack Nicholson and best friend Lou Adler were in there regular seats. But my man crush Justin Timberlake was on the floor as well. And look, save the "get off his nuts" commentary. The guy is flat out the most talented guy walking around right now, and it's really not even close. He's dating one of the hottest chicks in the game. He has 2 songs in the top 10 most downloaded Itunes songs. He produces. He acts. He's already one of the best guest hosts in SNL history. Have you ever seen him on Saturday Night Live? He's better than almost every professional skit comedians on the show. It's incredible. He also plays golf constantly. His style is nasty too. He's operating at a very high level guys, that's all I'm saying.

Just flipped it over to Baseball Tonight on ESPN2. Baseball Tonight is an institution similar to Sportscenter. Great arena to catch the highlights of the night. But the biggest development of the season so far, is the death of Eric Young and the birth of EY. HAHA. Has anyone else noticed this? Eric Young, former big league player, does a nice job on the show. But he's not Eric Young anymore. He goes soley by "EY." Never anything else. It's classic. I laugh every time. And everyone else on the show has done a fantastic job sticking to the EY gloss.


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