Late NBA Draft thoughts

Round 1: Robin Lopez (#15)
Round 2: Goran Dragic (#42)



I keep hearing the Robin Lopez/Anderson Varejao comparisons, but I think those comparisons have more to do with the hair than anything else. From what I've seen of Lopez, he doesn't appear to have the motor or the mobility of Varejao, but I could be wrong.

As far as Dragic goes, I hadn't heard of him up until draft night, but the front office apparently sees him as Steve Nash's eventual successor. He's a southpaw and has got good size for a PG (6-4). I've seen a couple of video packages featuring the kid, and he actually moves sort of like Ginobili. Neither look to be immediate impact guys, but at least we're getting some rookie contracts on the payroll.

Air Penny Overload (cont.)

Looks like the Penny III is on the way too. It's generally regarded as the worst shoe in the Penny line, and I really hated them back in 1997...but in hindsight, these were pretty crazy.



Maybe it's because I was only exposed to the black colorway, but I'm just now noticing that these royal blue ones look like the love child of the Penny 2 and the Foamposite One.

Air Penny Overload

I guess these are the two colorways of the Penny 2 that are slated to drop this fall.



They're still pretty awesome, but I was hoping for the OG blue ones. Too bad. But considering how many retro versions of the Penny IV they released, I guess it'll probably only be a matter of time. Oh yeah, and there's this:



Foamposite One in purple. I'm not real into that whole "eggplant" scheme, but these are alright.

A month and change to go...

Listening to:
BONNIE PINK
Every Single Day (1995-2006)
track: "A Perfect Sky"

I've always been a procrastinator by nature, but if there's one thing that I learned in college, it's that one month is virtually no time at all. It sucks if you've got a ton of things to take care of, but kind of nice if you only have your weekends to look forward to. Right now? It's Sunday and I'm already waiting for next Saturday...still looking for that perfect sky. For what it's worth, I've been slowly (SLOWLY) making some preliminary preparations for my trip.

• My initial setup costs are looking to be pretty staggering. Yeah.
  
• I'm being told that men in Japan don't really use any deodorant. What's that all about? I wasn't counting on having to pack a year's supply of the stuff.
  
• My apartment comes furnished with all the essentials - washing machine, fridge, TV, rice cooker, etc. - not to mention something called a "shoes box." That got me momentarily excited for some stupid reason. It took me a minute to figure out that it was probably just the下駄箱 (getabako) that most Japanese houses have near the entrance.
  
• I'm also being told that it's pretty much impossible to get by in Okinawa without a car or a moped. I really can't see myself on a moped, so I guess my options are pretty limited in that department.
• The middle school that I'll be teaching at supposedly has one of the top basketball programs on the island, although I guess that's probably not saying much.
  
• Part of me wants to ship all of my sneakers over to my new place (I will have a "shoes box" after all), but part of me feels that this is the perfect opportunity to grow up and drop the habit altogether. I already told myself that I would sell off most of my CD and DVD collection, but that hasn't been progressing much either.
• More than anything else, I'm worried about my grandma and my dog. I initially had some misgivings about breaking the news to my grandma because she has a history of being dramatic about these types of things, but she took it really well. I guess you can't really ask for much more than friends & family who want the best for you.
  

Of Amir and Armbars

Amir catches C.B. in an armbar to get the submission victory. Um, again.



Awesome. The consensus about Amir was that his opponents tended to underestimate him going into fights, which supposedly gave him the opportunity to secure surprise victories from behind. But for whatever reason, in a rematch against a good fighter who had to know that an armbar was coming, Amir managed to get the arm anyway and make him tap. Naturally, I was marking out and bouncing around the couch like an idiot the entire time. Given his personality, it's sort of tough to place him in anything but the underdog role, but it looks like this kid could be a really, really good fighter.

TUF 7 Finale

Considering that Amir Sadollah already made C.B. Dollaway tap in the semis, it does seem a little silly that Amir has to face him again in Saturday's fnals. The whole situation with Jesse getting kicked off the show is kind of funny yet sad at the same time, but the Amir/C.B. bout will certainly make for better television than the Amir/Jesse one would have.



You know, Amir is sorta goofy and lovable, while C.B. is mostly a prick (which is ok), so I'm pulling for Amir in this one. Therein lies the problem with mixing reality television and competitive sports: we tend to root for the individual as a person as much as we root for them as athletes. A lot of the old school MMA enthusiasts tend to hastily dump all over TUF, but I won't lie - I love the show. Nogueira is reportedly coaching season 8, and he's rumored to be bringing in Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva as his assistants. Tremendous. On the one hand, those are three awesome fighters there, but on the other hand, those are also three incoherent Brazilian cornermen. Bring on the subtitles.

New toys

I was about due for a new laptop anyway, so I figured I'd take the plunge and get me a new MacBook to replace my G4 PowerBook.



I like it. Plus, I managed to land a "free" 8GB iPod touch and a printer by pretending to still be in college. I just hope those rebates come in before I head off to Tokyo.

Early Tekken 6 tier list

I've posted the Korean list, because for whatever reason, the Korean players seem to know their Tekken better than the Japanese folk. Maybe it's because I've yet to try him out, but it just boggles my mind that Bob is the top ranked character.



1. Bob
2. Kazuya
3. Devil Jin
4. Dragunov
5. Leo
6. Jin
7. Raven
8. Heihachi
9. Roger Jr.
10. Feng Wei
11. Law
12. Armor King
13. King
14. Nina
15. Bryan
16. Miguel
17. Anna
18. Lili
19. Lei
20. Ling
21. Paul
22. Hwoarang
23. Asuka
24. Steve
25. Yoshimitsu
26. Wang
27. Zafina
28. Julia
29. Ganryu
30. Lee
31. Bruce
32. Jack-6
33. Baek
34. Christie & Eddy
35. Kuma & Panda
36. Marduk

My mains are in the middle of the pack again, but that's how I like it. I have to admit that I miss that pre-DR Tekken 5 Nina a little, but picking up on a lower tier character's nuances to make them competitive is really what makes the game fun.

Terry Porter named Suns head coach

So there it is. The reasoning is that Porter will place an emphasis on defense without getting away from the Suns' signature up-tempo style. The move looks good on paper, but much like the rest of the world, I can't honestly say that I payed much attention to the 03-04 Milwaukee Bucks. His eventual firing in Milwaukee apparently had more to do with T.J. Ford than anything else, so it's not like Porter has any real glaring blemishes on his resume. He stated in the press conference that he intends to develop the bench and the young players some, so he's already won me over there. Brian Skinner actually had his best statistical season under Porter in Milwaukee, so hopefully he'll stick around.

Air Yeezy

Check out Ye's feet.



Didn't really like them in purple or whatever it was, but these black ones are pretty heavy.



It's looking like a $150+ shoe, but that's just a guess.

Can't sleep.

Listening to:
Razorlight
Up All Night

"This town is for the counterfeit dreamers...

...and maybe I'm one too."