Why did we get them?

My last post was about perfect fits, for that reason alone I have to make a post about player acquisitions that have failed to show their respective teams why it is that they got them. As mentioned before this is all opinion based, though if you are an NBA fan, you know what is coming.

The first (and obvious) choice for worst off-season movements go to the MILLIONAIRE Brooklyn Nets, they (as mentioned in previous posts) decided to throw out cash, and got 2 future Hall of Famers in Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce. On paper this moved looked brilliant but these guys just have not shown the heart or fighting spirit they had in their Boston Celtic days (good times).

While I think nobody comes close to these 2 players, I might as well turn this into a top 3 (or bottom 3?). For my second choice, even though “technically” it was not an off-season acquisition since it is the NBA Draft, but the Cleveland Cavaliers choosing Anthony Bennett has been a terrible decision, more so when you see Michael Carter-Williams (picked 11^th in the Draft) of the 76ers lighting it up. Bennett still has potential, but so far not very impressed.

My 3^rd though probably not the third worst in most peoples’ minds, this is MY blog so Andrea Bargnani WHY ARE YOU STILL IN THE NBA!? I think the New York Knicks showed clear desperation when they acquired Bargnani and hoping he would turn into a “good player”, this guy has been labeled with “potential” for far too long now, and it is time to declare him a bust for being the #1 pick in the 2006 NBA Draft

This has been all

Kermitthefrog@mru out.. as Bargnani should be.

Perfect fits?

Since my last 2 blog updates have been regarding team records, I decided to take a step back from that and talk about one thing… off-season acquisitions. While most teams if not all teams in the NBA have landed a new player during the off-season, some stand out very clearly as perfect fits to their respective teams. Here is the breakdown:

To start off the obvious choice around the NBA is Dwight Howard, while most people view Howard in a hated manner I see a player with the potential to change the Houston Rockets franchise to a legit title contender.

My second choice will sound bias, but Eric Bledsoe has been an absolute steal for the Phoenix Suns. This ex back-up point guard has jelled perfectly into the Phoenix organization, and right now we are just hoping he stays with us for years to come.

My third and final choice will have to go to Monta Ellis of the Dallas Mavericks; Dallas has been quietly putting in a strong season and has had a very smooth flowing offense. Monta Ellis has also stepped in, and has taken a lot of pressure off Dirk Nowitzki, which is great news for Dallas seeing Dirk’s tender age of 35.

This has been all for today, more b-ball opinions to come.

Kermitthefrog@mru

Most of the East is a JOKE

Since in my last blog post I talked about the teams who were off to a “hot start.” I thought I might as well talk about the teams that have failed to live to expectations. These teams have started the season colder than the dark side of moon. As you will notice these teams are all placed under the Eastern conference, mostly because the Eastern conference has been an absolute joke this season. The New York Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Toronto Raptors are the teams on the chopping block. Lets get to it.

The Toronto Raptors are on the list not because they have played below expectation (they’re suppose to suck), but when a team is 6-10 and is the leader of the Atlantic division it’s worth mentioning just so you can realize how BAD the East has been.

The New York Knicks started the season with championship aspirations… After a 3-13 start to the season (and no improvement shown) the Knicks will be lucky to make it to the playoffs, fortunately for them it’s the Eastern conference so you are actually allowed room to suck.

And finally the Brooklyn Nets, the MILLIONAIRE (but old) NETS, this team has about a 98 MILLION DOLLAR PAYROLL, and since the owner decided to splash the cash, a luxury tax bill of 75 MILLON DOLLARS. After hearing those astonishing figures, do you really expect that team to start the season 5-12? These Nets have shown nothing, except how to blow a big load of cash and not come out with anything.

This has been kermitthefrog, if I talked about your team, prove to me that everything I have said is not right… you can’t.

Off To A Hot Start

With the NBA season now here my time in front of the Television has increased gradually. Since I was very young I have always been a huge basketball fan, mostly because my father played and it is the first sport he showed me. I instantly became hooked on basketball, and since a very young age I have been a die hard Phoenix Suns fan.

For my first topic, I'll touch the subject of a hot start, teams considered to have a hot start usually begin the first 10 games dominating their opposition, or playing strong enough basketball for the media to notice. The teams that have caught my eye the most are the San Antonio Spurs, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Phoenix Suns. (You noticed I left out teams that most people clearly expect to win, aka  the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers).

The San Antonio Spurs, off to an incredible 12-1 start (with Tim Duncan not at his best) have been one of the teams that have impressed me the most. People and the media always expect the Spurs to die down due to age, but these guys just keep rewinding good old Father time and just keep on piling wins.
The Portland Trail Blazers, with an eye catching 12-2 start have by far been the most impressive team in the NBA, LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard, and Wesley Matthews have been carrying the Trail Blazers through this amazing start, and now word in the NBA media is that the Blazers are a real thing. The Phoenix Suns (of course my team) off to a 7-6 start have just now started hitting rock bottom. As a fan I know Phoenix is going to be AWFUL this season (most of the media have them winning about 25 games of 82) but it is exactly what I want looking ahead to the 2014 NBA Draft, but in a surprising manner the Suns have been winning, or loosing by a very minimal amount, they are showing fight for a team that is not suppose to.

This is all the NBA talk for today! I LOVE BASKETBALL
Kermitthefrog out

The Changes in Writing

In "The Story of my Life" by Helen Keller, we see a young girl battle her lack of sight, and her sense of hearing in order to learn how to communicate, and write. Helen Keller has about 100 years on me which makes me think, what are the differences and similarities between her writing experience and mine? (Which just happens to be our assignment)

We'll start out with the easiest part, the differences. Helen Keller struggles much more than I did when it came to learning because she was both deaf, and blind. The other major difference is that I have grown up in such a time where reading, writing, and editing has become much easier thanks to the help of technology.

As a person that comes from another country, and has English as a second language, I can feel some of the similarities felt by Helen Keller (to some extent) when it came down to understanding the meaning of different words. I also see the difference in teaching methods between here and my country, where I come from we all write cursive, while I myself loved it, when I moved here I felt like my way of writing was just another reason to stand out, and thus I worked into kicking cursive out of my system. In hindsight, it was a very dumb decision, but as a nine-year-old kid who just wanted to fit in, and had a  difficult time communicating, it seemed correct.

And this right here is my prove of cursive writing back in grade 2.

Kermitthefrog

Online Anonymity.. Is it even stoppable?

The first words that come to mind when mentioning “online anonymity” are honesty, and accountability. Online anonymity can vary between good and bad. People believe anonymity is a good thing because of the fact that people can say what they believe without feeling judged by others, but on the other hand most people make the case that lack of accountability arises when people speak in an anonymous manner because it is so easy to create some sort of fake profile, and hide behind it.

Racist comments in my opinion will exist whether online anonymity exist or not, though we live in a multicultural society some people are raised to have racist opinions towards people of different ethnicity, and that is something anonymity will not fix because the humans raised that way will not see anything wrong with what they are saying about other cultures.  

When issues with gender arrive I think the most obvious example is catfishing, mostly because it has become some sort of world phenomena since its movie, and TV show based upon it. Catfishing is the art of creating a fake profile in order to play a joke on somebody. The most reason example of catfishing I have seen that brought worldwide media attention is Manti Te’o and his “girlfriend”. Manti Te’o was a linebacker at Notre Dame, who now plays in the NFL. During his time in Notre Dame Manti Te’o was tricked into falling in love with a fake woman created by a man known as Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the prank was then taken to a higher level when Te’o girlfriend “died”. This to me shows the lack of accountability that anonymity can bring into issues regarding gender, and how with anonymity gone this sort of situation would not exist.

The major point fighting the rights of anonymity is the fact that the Internet became what it is because of the capabilities of anonymity it had for their users. People feel that online anonymity is vital for the protection of freedom of expression, and although people such as parents have tried to shut that down, I believe there will always be a way for people to remain anonymous if they want to.

If I had it my way online anonymity would not exist, I think that with it gone the Internet would be a lot safer, and it would not be such a great cause for things like cyber bullying, and catfishing. But online anonymity will never disappear; people that are tech-savvy will always find a way to remain anonymous if they choose to because the Internet brings unlimited possibilities to anybody. 

This has been another blog on a more serious topic from your frog@mru

The Pain of Stubbed Toes

As I was searching for something to “rant” about I thought to myself, what makes me angry? In my previous post you would’ve seen that referees making bad calls really gets my blood boiling, but at last I could not really come to a firm decision on what I truly wanted to write about, and while I was looking at other rants written by my colleagues I saw some very serious topics to which people spoke their outrage about. I have decided to take a step back from the seriousness and rant about one thing, stubbing my toes.

A stubbed toe can happen to everyone, it does not matter how careful you are sooner or later you are going to stub your toe. Although I do not consider myself clumsy, or anything in that nature, I do tend to stub my toes on a regular basis. The pain and frustration I feel when it happens ruins the next 5 minutes of my day. Most of my stubbed toes have occurred in pure daylight, and even though I have walked around my very own house a million times, there is always that one occasion that just makes me think “Did that (table/computer desk/ chair) throw itself in front of my foot at the very last second in order to cause me harm? What did I ever do to you?”

Many people are probably now thinking “Oh Kermit, stubbed toes are no reason to rant, it’s not like they can cause anything more than just a sharp pain for a couple of minutes” you people are wrong! Since I decided to rant about the pain of stubbing toes, I did a little research on the Internet and found that stubbed toes can lead to some very serious injuries, from bleeding to fractures to broken toes, the pain of stubbed toes can become astonishing, mostly because of the fact that the toes have very little tissue to take a hit, thus our skin and bone of our toes takes the majority of the impact.

In overall, the sheer pain, and sometimes bone crushing impact that brings a stubbed toe should not be taken in a joking matter. In the future I hope such things will be taken more seriously, and somebody will design “Stubbing free furniture” where the problem of stubbed toes will become extinct, and therefore not ruin 5 minutes of my day. For now I guess bubble wrapping everything will have to do.

Kermitthefrog@mru saying always beware of moving furniture!