Congrats to UVA

UVA won the lax championship yesterday. I'm sure George Huegly was upset that he couldn't be part of the celebration.

Also, UVA is the top ranked team in the College Baseball World Series.

Heat and Mavs

I am disappointed the Heat have gotten to the finals. However, they have earned it and I will say that LeBron has really stepped up and played well in the playoffs.

I don't know the West teams as well but it is clear that Nowitski is playing at a high level and the Mavs have done a good job getting through tough teams to reach the finals.

While I don't like Cuban, I do like Nowitski and some of the other guys on the Mavs and I also just don't like the Heat so I will be pulling for the Mavs.

Lets get it on!

Kung Fu Panda 2

Saw it yesterday with my two boys. Great movie! There are some moments where there is what I would consider some adult content so it's interesting to see how my kids react to that.

Also, I wasn't sure how the movie would be and if it would just try and piggy back off of the first movie and would be just a way for this movie to try and bring in more money for the makers. However, the flow is somewhat similar to the first movie but it really is a stand alone movie. The story is good as it delves into Po's past and what happened to his family and how he came to be who he is. Sounds funny but the "acting" was solid too. I know we are talking about a cartoon but it's amazing how far animation has come. The animation now is so detailed and fine and it really makes these characters more "real."

Anyway, enjoyable movie with comedy but a solid story behind it.

Bulls lose - series tied 1-1

Watched parts of the game last night and it seemed to me not so much that the Heat won that game but rather the Bulls lost it. Now, I don't like the Heat and I may not be giving them enough credit but it just seemed like the Bulls were missing plenty of open jumpers and layups that they would typically make. The Bulls shot 38% in the first half and still only found themselves down by 2 points going into halftime.

I will say that Udonis Haslem provided excellent play coming off of the bench and LeBron was good down the stretch but I still feel like the Bulls are the better team.

The series shifts to Miami and the Bulls are young so we'll see if they are able to handle the pressures of playing on the road. Next game is Sunday night. Should be a good one.

Bulls BEAT the Heat!

They didn't just win that game. They beat down the Heat. Loved the two dunks by Tahj whateverhisnameis. The first came at a critical point during the game where it was close and he took it straight at Wade and dunked right over him...FACIAL (yeah, I know that sounds kind of gay but I had to do it)!!!

The second came at the end of the game when it was out of hand but it was the perfect punctuation to the game letting the James and Co. know that the Bulls are not scared of you and you better step it up or it will be a real short series.

Seems like James and Co. think that people should just bow down to them. I think the Bulls wanted to face the Heat. They wanted to show on a national stage that the Bulls are just better. Rose is a superstar and they have a team full of very good players that are well coached and very aggressive. I was thoroughly impressed with their defense and ball movement. They looked younger and faster than the Heat and they just keep coming.

One of the announcers said that the Bulls will just wear you down and that is exactly what happened. It was almost like the Bulls bullied the bully. James and Co. looked frustrated and I loved it.

Will be interesting what happens in tonight's game. Will the Heat respond and adjust to handle the tsunami that is the Bulls or will they bow down and crumble? My feelings are that the Bulls are just too much for the Heat. James and Wade will do their best and maybe keep it close for a while but the Bulls will keep coming at them and win to take the 2-0 series lead.

John Beck starting QB for the Redskins?

After not selecting a quarterback in April's draft, Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan talked glowingly of backup John Beck. In a radio interview Monday, Beck made it clear he thinks he's ready to take over as the team's starter.

"I believe I'm a starter in the NFL," Beck said in a SiriusXM NFL Radio interview Monday.

I think I am hoping that the lockout continues through the season.

Actually, I don't know a whole lot about Beck but my feelings are that he is not the answer. Frankly, as much as I bash Rexy, I would prefer him to be the QB this coming year.

Odds are the Skins are not going to compete for the Super Bowl this year. We have a lot of missing pieces; however, I thought they did a great job in the draft and addressed many of the issues but we are still a work in progress.

I would prefer to have Rexy have the opportunity to show us if he can be a consistent NFL starting QB. He has flashes of brilliance but he also has flashes of WTF is he doing?!! I suppose it is okay to see what Beck can offer but if nothing else would like to see a competition in training camp/preseason to see who deserves the starting job.

I know Shanny is really high on Beck and was thrilled to bring him in here for pretty much nothing last season. Seems like Kyle Shanny likes Rexy. Whatever. We'll see how it plays out.

Heat beat the Celtics

Will some one please stop these batches!!! Okay, the Celtics are older and hurt so it was a tough task for them but hopefully Chicago wins their series and take it to Miami. I just want to see these guys fail.

I don't mind Wade that much but LeBron is a great player but he is not legendary like MJ or even like Kobe. And Bosh is just along for the ride. This guy is mediocre and too soft and cries too much and then when he does something halfway decent, he yells with his mouth wide open and looks like he could fit a whole basketball in there.

They bother me.

Bernard Hopkins on D. McNabb

Not sure what his problem is but this seems pretty unnecessary (from ESPN).

Boxer Bernard Hopkins, a Philadelphia Eagles fan, has ripped Donovan McNabb before. On Tuesday, he took his apparent disdain for the quarterback to another level.

Hopkins, in Philadelphia for his May 21 fight against Jean Pascal, invited reporters to watch him train Tuesday and decided to take additional verbal jabs at McNabb and even implied that the Washington Redskins quarterback wasn't black enough.

"Forget this," Hopkins said, according to the Philadelphia Daily News, and pointed to his own skin. "He's got a suntan. That's all."

According to Hopkins, McNabb had a privileged upbringing in Chicago and isn't as tough as himself, current Eagles quarterback Michael Vick or Cincinnati Bengals receiver Terrell Owens, who famously had a falling out with McNabb before being released by Philadelphia in 2006. Hopkins said Tuesday that McNabb and Owens essentially didn't speak the same language.

"T.O. got [into] the boardroom and saw the way they talked to McNabb. Coming from where he [came from] -- that's strange to some white people, when a black man speaks," Hopkins said, according to the Daily News. He said Owens "[wasn't] used to this language. [He's] used to speaking up.' "

Hopkins said that is why McNabb felt a sense of betrayal when he was traded by the Eagles to the Redskins before last season.

"Why do you think McNabb felt he was betrayed? Because McNabb is the guy in the house, while everybody else is on the field. He's the one who got the extra coat. The extra servings. 'You're our boy,' " Hopkins said, according to the Daily News, and patted a member of the media on the back to illustrate his point. "He thought he was one of them."

When contacted by the Daily News, McNabb's publicist said the quarterback would not have a comment.

While he questioned McNabb's mettle, Hopkins didn't take a shot at McNabb's integrity.

"Nice guy. I'd trust him around my kids," Hopkins said, according to the Daily News.

Arnie and Skeletor's marriage has been TERMINATED!

After 25 years, the power couple has decided to separate. At 63 years of age, Arnie can now focus back on his movie career. He plans to dive back into the well again by resurrecting the Terminator franchise for another film. That franchise seems to have run its course but it's what Arnie is known best for so why not see it you can milk out more money. I have a feeling it will suck but I also have a feeling that matar aloo will be camped out at the theater a week before ticket sales with a stiffie waiting to get his seat.

Good luck, Arnie!

Blackbirds Dominate!

The Blackbirds were coming off of 7-0 win in which the other team had a hard time even getting it across the midfield line so we were on a roll.

This past Saturday we found ourselves down two players (one because of injury and the other because of a personal matter). That left with five players. It didn't matter. The game quickly got out of hand as we came out with an 11-2 victory. I knew it was going to be a loo loo when one of our players said before the game, "When the crowd starts cheering, that's when I heat up!"

It got to a point where the other team sent an additional player on the field but it didn't matter. I tried to get our guys to back off but being 7 year olds, they didn't really know how to back off. I actually want to spend some time this week during practice to explain to them why we need to back off.

Actually, some of the opposing team's players started saying to our guys that they hated us and one of their players even said, "Bad game," to one of our guys during the handshake. While I don't condone those things being said, I understand what drove them to say these things as they were frustrated and upset. It's a good lesson in sportsmanship for both teams. I said going into this that the two biggest lessons for these kids to take away are teamwork and sportsmanship and hopefully they can learn a few soccer skills and have fun along the way. I was actually disappointed with our kids for not listening to me and backing off but I understand that they are young and don't realize that they are beating the other team down. Again, all the more reason that I want to spend some time this week explaining to them why that type of victory isn't appropriate.

Still, I'm glad to be on the winning side of that beat down and GO BLACKBIRDS!!!

Caps are eliminated

I don't have the words to express the disappointment. Just embarrassing. We never really put up a fight. Sure, the Lightning may have gotten the bounces but they created those bounces by attacking. Yes, pucks went off our defenders legs or they went off their legs into our net but they were smart enough to crash our net and throw the puck at our net. Bottom line is that we didn't lose, we were beaten. They played smarter. They played harder. They had a better system to negate anything we threw at them.

Outside of a couple of guys, we didn't play with any passion or intensity. We were beaten to pucks. We lost one on one battles. Our defenders fumbled the puck many times. Passes weren't crisp or positioned to allow the recipient to do much with the puck. We didn't crash the net effectively.

Robs was right in that the plan should have been pretty simple. Take shots, Roloson allows plenty of rebounds and crash the net to put back in the rebounds. I can't count the number of times yesterday that they threw a puck right across the net and it went right through because either no one was there or if they were there, they didn't crash the net. That's all the Lightning did. They got bodies to the net and they created traffic.

Blame goes to the coaches as well as the players. I am also VERY disappointed with most of the players but particularly Backstrom and Semin. They did nothing in this round. Not sure if either or both were injured but the big time players need to step up. That is why they are paid the big bucks. Boudreau said that he doesn't know of a team that can win without its big players playing well.

It comes down to another disappointing year and really a waste of a season. I believe Laughlin said it last night in that we are no longer the young guns and guys need to figure this out. They are getting older and the window is already starting to close. We will still be good but I do believe our best shot was this year.

I can take losing if I feel like there is good effort but to be swept by a team I feel we are better then and to be outworked and outplayed by them, it's just unacceptable. It really leaves a bad taste in your mouth and we have to live with it for not just the offseason but the entire regular season because nothing really matters with this team until the playoffs next year.

Question

Should Gabby be fired if the Caps lose tonight?

Caps fall and are now on the brink

TERRIBLE loss. The first two losses I found myself more disappointed but this morning I find myself more angry. AGAIN, the Caps were pathetic in the third period. We were thoroughly outplayed by the Lightning in the final frame. If not for Neuvy, the score would have been 7 or 8 to 3. We looked like we were playing half speed in the third. What's more disappointing is that we knew we were down 0-2 in the series and we had a 3-2 lead going into the third. There should have been a sense of urgency and confidence. Instead we were just flat.

I was particularly upset with:

1. Backstrom: Where the F has he been all series? He is a top paid player and he has all but disappeared. When I see him out there, he looks like he is going quarter speed. The worst was when he was just standing around and watching the action and then he finally engaged only to take a stupid holding penalty. This guy has been useless in the playoffs.

2. Schultz: Looks like he is skating with a 45 lb. plate in his pants. He looks like he is barely moving.

3. Most of the defense: Hannan and Carlson can't seem to control the puck. Alzner and others can't cover and pick up each others guys. Too many breakdowns.

4. PP: While better yesterday, still sucks. The passes these guys make to each other suck. They are not passing to each other cleanly that would allow for them to take a one timer or control the puck cleanly. Many of the passes are behind or on the backhand of the guy they are passing to. Won't work.

5. Effort: Outside of Neuvy, the only guys I can recall that gave a solid effort yesterday were Ovie and Knuble. Ovie played with his usual intensity and had some good opportunities and Knuble did a good job of getting in front of the net and creating some traffic. He had some good tip ins and tried to be disruptive. We just need everyone else to step up.

All that said, the series is not over. I recognize coming back from a 3-0 deficit has only happened 3 times in NHL history so the odds are not in our favor. I am not expecting to win but I do believe we can win. We have been close but like I said, we have to better their intensity for the entire game. We CANNOT continue to have the third periods that we have been having in this series. A win tonight and we come back to Verizon. We really have to look at this as one game, one period, and one shift at a time. It can be done. Again, I'm just hoping that we can put it together for a full game.

BIN LADEN IS DEAD!!!

Hooray! It took 10 years but better late than never.

He deserved to die and I am glad he is dead but to think that the war on terror is over is naive. He is the face of terror so it is good for us and it hurts Qaeda and terrorist nation but there are still plenty of cells and leaders out there to feel fully safe from terror.

Caps lose - fall to 0-2 in the series

Tough loss for the Caps last night. Felt like we didn't dominate but largely outplayed the Lightning in the first two periods. We were by far the aggressors and had WAY more shots then them. Still, we couldn't put the puck in the net and found ourselves down 2-1 with less than two minutes remaining.

We pulled Neuvy for the extra attacker and Ovie came up big punching it in from right in front of the net with just over a minute left. The crowd was pumped and it looked good at that point.

In OT, Ovie made a great move and slid the puck right across the net but Johanson just missed it for the game winner. We had pretty good energy and chances to start OT but in the end it was a bad line shift that caught us in a 2 v 1 where Lecavalier got the puck all by himself in front of Neuvy for an easy goal. Tough way to lose and now we find ourselves down 2 games to none heading to TB for back to back games on Tues and Wed. It's a tall order but I still like our team and believe the series is far from over. The thing is I said that it's not over if we lose Game 2, the situation becomes a must win in Game 3 as we cannot afford to get down 3 games to zero.

One area that ABSOLUTELY must improve is the PP. We had a number of opportunities in yesterday's game and could not convert once. This is unacceptable. I do believe we are the better team between these two but on paper it doesn't matter. It's what you do on the ice that matters. Hopefully we come out tomorrow ready to go and score first to get the crowd out of it. A win tomorrow and the entire complexion of the series changes.

UNLEASH THE FURY!!!