Resolutions Continued

Quotes for the Day: "Everything popular is wrong." -Oscar Wilde, "Many a false step was made standing still." -Anonymous, "These individuals have riches just as we say that we "have a fever", when really the fever has us." -Seneca

Books that I Recommend:
The Last Lecture by Dr. Randy Pausch
The 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell
Unleash the Warrior Within by former SEAL Richard Machowicz
Buy-ology: Truth and Lies about Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom
Blink by Malcom Gladwell

Resolution #4-- Close 2 Professional Models. The number involved in this resolution is arbitrary. It doesn't matter whether I close 1 or 20, it's all about the journey and the process of getting to that point. For all the naysayers out there, who have a hard time believing that myself or any other guy in our social circles have the ability to do something like this, you're absolutely mistaking. We make this infinitely more difficult than it really is. These are the kind of girls that we should be going after in many senses. The most beautiful women are often the most insecure. Behind their beauty could lie a heart and personality just dying to meet a guy like you. It is just a question of whether you have enough stones to find out. Are there any professional models in Cleveland? Maybe. But there are professional models in New York and other hub cities just waiting to meet people.

Resolution #5--Go to Las Vegas in March for the first 4 days of the NCAA Tourney and meet a celebrity and get his/her phone number. I have never been to Vegas but I imagine that if you go there, the second part of this resolution is probably a 100% guarantee. I can get Jeremy Piven's cell or Matt Ryan's without too much of an effort. It is a question of them remembering you enough to text you back or email you back and whether you can create a valued friendship. And you do that by offering a high value friendship proposition, which I would inevitably do. I was trying to think of my top 5 celebrities that are not big time enough to be recognized by everybody that I would love to meet and hang out with a bit while I am there and later keep in touch with. I came up with these 5 names (no order): "Bodey" from The Wire, David Lee, Jane Seigel from Mad Men, Anthony Kim and Sports Guy Bill Simmons.


Back at you Tm--JC

A Couple New Year Resolutions

Lot to get to here in this post and posts going foward, but first lets touch on the Cavs-Celtics from last night quickly. It was a game that the Cavs needed way more than the struggling celtics needed, and the Cavs played great in a statement game blowout to go 19-0 at home. The champs are still the champs, and they still have the belts. And they will undoubtedly have something to say in May and June, but the Cavs are far and away the favorites to win the east today and for the foreseeable future. Boston has to make multiple moves to add a couple pieces if they don't wanna get swept 4-0 or 4-1 by Cleveland. I think its apparent that unless the Celts add Starbury and a small forward who can try to match up against LeBron, we'll be much more focused on stopping Dwight Howard and finding funny ways to make fun of J.J. Redick on the bench. The artist in charge of scribing in names on the MVP trophy can get started now, cause LeBron isn't giving that thing up. It's just a question of whether were gonna deal Wally's contract to add another piece that will allow us to win the finals. That is a topic for another podcast/article.



Myself and everyone who I socialize and fraternize with are going to do the things we have always wanted to do in 2009. We are gonna do it the right way, and if that means publishing a couple "resolutions," however cliche the idea is, then so be it. January is always an interesting time to kinda hypothesize and tinker with different ideas to try in the coming year. I love the brainstorming but often fall short of expectations. Let's see if we can't get some momentum in 09 and keep it going all year. In no particular order...

Resolution # 1 --Meet Erin Andrews. I think this resolution speaks for itself. She's a babe. But after scouring the internet for over 10 minutes, there isn't a single scandalous picture of her anywhere. And that troubles me. Now the problem lies in where a meeting could occur. Right off the top of my head, I would say Progressive Field. Hopefully the Tribe can get something going early, and a potential big Wednesday night or Sunday night game at the Prog can force ESPN to send EA to CLE for the night. Only time will tell. My next thought was the Big East tournament in NYC in March. This is a tournament that I have had circled on my calendar of sporting events to hit for quite some time. She will definitely be there. That is where I plan to enter her life, and change it for the better. I will now begin to except suggestions for things to say to her. Just email them

Resoulution #2--Visit Chicago, NYC, Seattle, Charlotte and San Diego. I capped it at 5 cities because thats probably my most realistic ceiling. I don't really know what these visits entail, but I have never been to any of them, and really anywhere else for that matter, so I wanna get started on something. I hope to hit Chi and NY for work related purposes, which will leave me some vacation days and sick days to hit up the other 3 cities. Other cities that I wanna drink in include: Boston, Atlanta, LA and St. Pete. In the summer of 2010, much like LeBron, I plan to leave Cleveland for a couple years and live somewhere else, like Chicago. And for anyone who reads Bill Simmons and have seen his recent mailbags, Atlanta has jumped on my radar pretty hard. More on my potential blockbuster move in 2010 later this year.

Resolution #3--Finish .500 and reach the Final Four of the Lakewood Y Summer Session AND shoot 5 rounds under 75 at golf courses with a slope rating above 131. Thought I would couple my two sports resolutions into one, as I have other important resolutions to attend to. These are pretty good goals. They'll take some work and dedication. They are also very fun. The summer session at the Y is only 5 months away. Barring any catastrophic injuries, I am looking forward to that. Playing more golf is always a good goal, but I still love playing basketball way more. I added a Hybrid to fill the the hole of the 215-230 zone in my bag, so I am looking forward to hammering that. Involved in the second goal is setting up dates to hit the top golf courses in NEO. Stonewater, Boulder Creek, Sandridge etc. WATCH OUT COURSE RECORDS!

Back at you Tomorrow--JC

The Year of JC (and his peeps)

Quote of the day: "Every organization must be prepared to abandon everything it does to survive in the future." -Peter Drucker

It's with great honor and privilege that I welcome you all back to the 2009 campaign of the best blog in Cleveland. A year that will undoubtedly see this blog perform like an NFL/NBA player in a contract year, and take NEO and the rest of the country by storm. A year that promises to be the best yet, both for myself as well as my friends and family. Despite the hardest economic times in our nation's history since the 1930's, I can promise you one thing: there will be no recession in my ability to offer you great insight and opinions on sports, socializing, pop culture and life philosophy. Let's get going...

OAC PREVIEW (PART 3 of 5)

Second Team All OAC:
Brian Pollock
Maurice Haynes
Chris Switzer
Andrew Bene
Tyler Felt
Rudy Kirbus

6. Baldwin Wallace: Projected OAC Finish: 6th Projected Wins: 9 Floor: 6-12 Ceiling: 12-6 Players to Watch: Andrew Bene, Kyle Brown, Denny Santiago Analysis: Duane Sheldon returns to his alma mater to coach the new look Jackets in 08-09. They lose several catalysts (Bub, Tyler) from a 4 year run of consistent play that brought with it an OAC championship and two NCAA tournament appearances. The loss of two of the top 5 journeymen of the last four years leaves many lingering holes in the back court. One could pose the question: how do you lose two OAC journeymen, and even have the ability to field a team the next year? We will find out this year as Andrew Bene leads the charge through the conference. BW is a team that can really have a great year, or get on a bad run and struggle. They have a lot of tough guys, its just a question of getting the chemistry together under a new coach and system. Kyle Brown is a great shooter and scorer, same goes with Tumblin and Santiago. Its just a question of whether they can play well at the point guard position and whether they can defend well enough against the good teams. BW is definitely a skilled team, with a lot of talented guys that are hard to stop. Good teams have good point guard play, and thats a question for BW to answer.

5. Mount Union: Projected OAC Finish: 5th Projected Wins: 11 Floor: 8-10 Ceiling: 12-6 Players to Watch: Dave Pellrite, Chris Switzer, Sam King Analysis: Mount is a sexy pick this year. They have jumped out to a 5-0 start. They have good players that have been playing well in this league for a long time. They are pretty balanced. But never in my right mind am I gonna put a Mount Union team anywhere near the top of the OAC Conference. I dont care if they start 11-0. I would still bet on them falling apart. They hate their coach. Hes like the Byron Scott of the OAC. He has some credibility, hes coached some good guys, but in time teams just begin to resent him and stop playing hard for him. Chris Switzer is a really cool guy, and a shoe in for the All OAC Party Team, and I am positive he would have a lot of things to say about his coach. It would be funny to hear. But bottom line, I think Mount is good but just not good enough to get over that hump. There a tough matchup at the guards though. Dave Pellrite is a Rudy Kirbus type player, who is big and thick yet quick enough to go by you and score. He shoots it nice and gets to the line as well. I think they will have an up and down season with many peaks and valleys. The coach-player relationship is the thing that brings questions and makes me not believe in them.

OAC All Breakout Team:
RJ Brown
Travis Kinn
Rudy Kirbus
Ross Niekamp
Chris Zajac
Brian Pollock

OAC PREVIEW (PART 2 of 5)

First Team All OAC:
Nate Stahl
Ryan Wood
Brandon Rogers
Kyle Meyer
Trevor Scott
Kyle Brown

8. Heidelberg: Projected OAC Finish: 8th Projected Wins: 7 Floor: 4-14 Ceiling: 8-10 Players to Watch: Josh Calver, Jake Smalley, Travis Kinn Analysis: New head coach (the big black assistant from ONU the last couple years), new core of players (the figthing josh calvers) and coming off the best season in school history, heidelberg may be in for an up in down season in the OAC. They are off to a 3-1 start, probably due to a couple of nice cupcakes wins but maybe not. They have some toughness at the guards but none have proved it over the course of a marathon season. I am sure they are having some concerns at the 3-4-5 positions. Travis Kinn is kind of a tweener, but is strong and tough and seemed to be able to hang in there against bigger players last year. Its just a question of whether there guards are gonna be good enough to get shots for themselves against good defensive players. It was easy for them to get good shots when Shriver and Lemmon were playing. It will be much tougher for these current guys to create there owns shots and get 3s with no real post presence. I definitely think they can beat the bad teams and can beat the medium skill teams when they shoot the ball well and get lucky.

7. Musky: Projected OAC Finish: 7th Projected Wins: 8 Floor: 6-12 Ceiling:9-9 Players to Watch: Trevor Scott, Pat Byrne, Tyler Felt Analysis: Muskies are thin at all positions, but the guys they have are pretty good. This is the part of the conference that can really start to go many different ways. The 4-7 range is really gonna depend on how these teams do head to head, and how lucky/well they play on the road. Without Brandon Todd, and his robot arms, the Muskies are gonna struggle handling the ball. He made things a lot easier for the team last year, and they still finished in the lower rung of the conference. They have a healthy Trevor Scott, who was decent but still no 100% last year coming off major surgery. He is long, quick and a pretty good all around player. He shoots a high percentage and is a great free throw shooter. He has a pretty good middle game. Tyler Felt is one of the many paper champions in this conference. What an anomaly. You'll see great numbers from him (20 and 10) and then just be baffled at how bad he sucks when you play against him in real life. I'm sure he is good I just havent seen it and probably never will cause JCU will dog him again. You cant win in this conference with 7 guys. At least I dont think so. Its too long of a season, and the guys in this league are too good. They will have some nice wins, some nice first half fights, good 10 minutes of the second half, and a lot of close last minute losses. Definitely good enough to beat teams that dont come to play.

OAC COY: Damon Goodwin

OAC PREVIEW (PART 1 of 5)

After a little time off, JC is back. Over the next couple days, I am gonna break down the OAC conference. A conference where every game is decided by several crucial second half minutes. A league where no lead is safe. A league where names like Oosiley, Grogan, Todd, and Lemmon echo for all eternity. This has been a conference dominated by a John Carroll program who not only is the nastiest team in the league year in and year out, but is also perenially the best drinking team as well and takes full advantage of the hot bed of young coed jersey chasers/pantydroppers that flood the streets of South Belvoir. I am gonna provide some analysis on the teams and rank them from 10-1, and offer some predictions. I havent paid a ton of attention to whats going on in the league, but my time as a journeymen is plenty of expertise. I know every team in this league like no one else. If you wanna great snapshot of how the league is gonna play out this year, I encourage you to take a spin through my writing in the next several days. FROM 10 TO 1....


10. MARIETTA Projected OAC Finish: 10th Projected Wins: 4 Floor: 0-18 Ceiling: 7-12 Player(s) to Watch: Isaiah Creasap Analysis: Marietta sucks guys. I think we are all pretty aware of that. They just have never gotten enough good guys in there who are tough and get the fact that they are playing in one of the most unique conferences in America. They play shitty defense, like laughable score at will defense if you take 20 seconds to get a good shot. Offensively you can dog the shit outta them and they panic and turn the ball over or shoot a bad shot in which you can get out and score in transition. This is a night off in the conference similar to when the elite teams in the NBA go to OKCity or Memphis. Isaiah Creasap is a good shooter. He is gonna have 3 30 point games this year, maybe more. But I dont think he could be a good player on the top 4 teams in the conference. He would be a great great weapon to a good team, but I dont think he would be tough enough to hack it day in and day out. Just dont really see much from Marietta. I hope I am somewhat wrong though cause it sucks being shitty year in and year out. Maybe they have a Mimes this year. A program changer.

9. OTTERBEIN: Projected OAC Finish: 9th Projected Wins: 6 Floor: 2-16 Ceiling: 8-10 Players to Watch: Adam Wells (kidding, hes a fag who had a nice 6 year career) Corey Ratai, Ryan Kennedy??? Analysis: The Ross Banaszack era is over folks. He has moved on to bigger and better things namely Ross Jr. His absence creates a decent hole, seeing that he had possession of the ball for 90% of Otterbeins offensive possessions. Never bet against Dick Reynolds, a somewhat competent coach with a time tested system. But come on, I think this is a team that the good teams will throttle both home and away if they play well. I wonder if Ryan Kennedy is back. He was fresh on the scene for his sophomore year strapped with a couple of barb wire sleeves on his intimidating arms, and had a few nice scoring games early. Then he fell off the grid and no one has heard from him since. He was rumored to be playing on a club team in Turkey, being paid 200K in addition to free room and board. All in all unless they have a few decent new post players, and a couple of shooters who play well all year, this is a team thats gonna get beat. They are gonna play with teams for a half hard because they have a stickler coach, but good teams will pull away for easy wins.

MUST SEE TV

I sent a text to my buddy Josh at the 17:49 mark of the first half of last night's Davidson at Oklahoma game. It read: "The only guy I'm watching this year is Curry." He texted me back and said that he is the man, but there are a lotta good players and teams out there. NO THANKS. Stephen Curry is must see TV. Have you ever seen anybody like this guy? On a shitty night, against a sexy pick team, in their house, he goes for 44. HE DIDNT EVEN PLAY WELL. And if the refs hadn't fucked that game up by making him sit the last 8 minutes of the first half, they would have beat Oklahoma.

This year, Curry has the ball in his hands all game. He's gotta handle it and instigate the offense. He never gets a break anymore, and when he gets rid of the ball now, teams try to make it impossible for him to get it back. And he always seems to just walk around, yawn, orders dinner and comes off a screen for a WIDE open look. He moves without the ball so naturally that he makes it look so easy. And they dont even do that much for him. I watched pretty closely last night, and they didnt have a ton of sets and moves to get him open. He initiated the offense, ran to the block, hung out for 13 seconds, and came off a half hearted single screen and that was usually enough. Davidson runs a lot of motion, but Curry doesnt do a ton. At times, he moved without the ball a lot. But its mostly a lot of action from the other 4 players that leads to Curry getting loose. But he's just so good when he has the ball. He can create space to get his 3, he can get space to shoot a fadeaway in the key, he can hit the floater. And he can really create opportunities to get the line where he's automatic. Im pretty sold on Bob McKillop. He seems like hes a pretty smooth operator. His teams are always so fundamentally solid. But I mean above all things, hes just got the sweetest stroke in the world right now. I mean there is no doubt when that thing comes off his hand. Fran Fraschilla said he has never seen anyone in his life swish so many 3's in a practice session. Guy barely hits the net. And Stephen Curry has some stones. Hes a big game player. Hes always there in the last 5 minutes. I fear that they are gonna start to triple face guard him with three guys. That might be the only way to stop this cat. But I think you can pencil him in for 5 40 point games and 2 half-100 games. In addition to Stephen Curry, my other guy is BC's Tyrese Rice. Guy is un-guardable. Peg him in for 4 40 point games. NASTY.

JC III