Who's winning Monday Night?

[ziggy]

Congrats on your teams success thus far Zig, hope they go all the way to the WCF, because I won't be truly happy unless we beat the best and having caught Utah too early for them to get rolling, that means we need to face Portland, seems to me we could be going back to the old MSNBC board days when we all first got to know each other and the rivalry between the Lakers and Blazers was at a fever pitch, great fun those days were!

Be careful for what you wish for, because we would play the Lakers in round 2, so if we make the WCF, then we would have to beat the Lakers in round 2.

[Skandery]

Don't hate cause I know more about B-Ball than most of you put together AND I would ShaqOwn y'all on a REAL b-ball court!  YES I'M TALKING TO JOE V AND SKANDYPANTIES

Anytime!  Anywhere!  


Oh and the skin wrinkle on my lateral, left, small toe, has more b-ball knowledge than you do, WOW.  

[WayOutWest]

Anytime!  Anywhere!  

Did you ever see Shaq go up against Shawn Bradley?  I would own your skinny buttocks! 

Oh and the skin wrinkle on my lateral, left, small toe, has more b-ball knowledge than you do, WOW.  

I'm talking REAL WORLD B-Ball knowledge not "spreadsheet jockey" FNBA knowledge!

[Joe Vancil]

Anymore, I just lurk around this place.  Things are busier for me, and I don't have quite the time I had in times past.  That said, I think I need to check in on this thread.

On the subject of how things are going on the board, while I have a certain romanticized view of MSNBC, I think everyone needs to realize that there was a good mix of good posts/bad posts, good days/bad days, good topics/bad topics there, too.  Granted, I miss folks like NC, HC, and Blazermania, Chief, PG, Seanic, and many of the others, but the truth is that that's been quite a while back, now.  *THIS* board is "home," now.

And like any home, every board has some flaws.  Some of it is because of heated rivalries, some of it is because of different philosophies - whether basketball, political, or economic - some is because of different experiences.  But most of it is because of different EXPECTATIONS.

Do I find some of what Reality says to be garbage?  Sure.  Do I find it *ALL* to be garbage?  No.  Do I find some of it borderline antagonistic?  Sure.  Offensive?  NO.  Like it or not, Reality has a style;  it may be a style that rubs some the wrong way.  But Reality is a fellow basketball fan, just like everyone else here, and to me, that means all of us have more in common than we might be comfortable admitting.

There are days I adore Reality's humor.  There are days I don't want to hear it.  I could say the same thing about anyone who takes the board with a bit of a grain of salt.

Granted, there are a few folks on here who are here for serious debate on basketball, and take that more seriously than others.  And obviously, I appreciate those folks a great deal - perhaps moreso than those who are here for the humor and the fun.  But I submit to you that we can't do without either set.

Back on MSNBC, I adopted "Genghis, The Polar Bear" as a persona to allow me to switch between serious and humorous in a way that would be easier for the casual reader to understand.  For reasons like that, Lurker preferred talking to Joe Vancil, and JoMal got a kick out of "Genghis."  Well, none of us do that here.  We have to recognize that there are different facets to the posts others make, and we need to interpret them as to be written in the MOST HUMOROUS, LEAST OFFENSIVE manner.  Fact of the matter is that I like the people here;  there's not a one of you I wouldn't absolutely adore meeting, and I hope we all get the chance.

We have to realize that this is a community, and we need to be open to both the fun and the serious - lest we - as a community and as individuals - become too much of one and not enough of the other.  Also, we need to be respectful of Derek, who has graciously hosted the little party we're having here for more years than we were together back at MSNBC.  If he asks us to tone it down - regardless of WHO he asks, WHAT he asks, or WHY he asks - *ALL* of us should, out of respect for our host.  And let's face it - he's not asked that much of us.  Anyone seen tons of advertisements up, asking us to become "subscribers," and promising "additional content" for those folks?  Bothered by lots of pop-ups?  Not here.  Yes, we may not agree with Derek's request, or we may think he's gone overboard on one thing and not far enough on the other, but it is *DEREK'S* board, and as such, I think it's important that we respect him for that, and treat any difference in opinion as being philosophical differences.  I ran BBSes a long time ago, and let me tell you, it's a thankless job, and *VERY* open to interpretation.  And the hardest thing is to allow the personal style of a loud, semi-obnoxious person, while silencing a cutting insult by a more quiet person.  But, from an old Sysop's point of view, he's right to do so, since the former is likely NOT meant to hurt, while the latter MAY be meant to hurt.  Ever tried reading someone's INTENT?  It ain't easy - and it's the cause for most of the conflicts on a message system.

So, everybody, LIGHTEN UP.  There's nothing that's been done that is worth getting upset over.

Finally, WayOut - with regard to your basketball "challenge":  YOU'RE TOAST.

[Skandery]

Finally, WayOut - with regard to your basketball "challenge":  YOU'RE TOAST.

Why do I get the feeling Joe is promising things others are going to have to deliver.





<intention: to mock and ridicule Joe>
 . . . just in case there was any confusion

 

[JoMal]

Finally, WayOut - with regard to your basketball "challenge":  YOU'RE TOAST.

Why do I get the feeling Joe is promising things others are going to have to deliver.





<intention: to mock and ridicule Joe>
 . . . just in case there was any confusion

 

But I was, as always, momentarily confused and bitter for a moment, thinking you, of all people, were attacking Joe, the one voice of reason in a voiceless, cyberspace world.

But not as confused as I was by Laker Dan calling out Rick for misspelling 'LOSING' anywhere in this thread. <note to self, do NOT waste time looking for Laker Dan's misspelled words any more. I just assumed Dan had a beef and not just an opinion about Rick, and as you all know, opinions are like a-holes, or is it toilets....anyway, everyone has one and everyone thinks everyone else's runs too much...no...that can't be right>

[JoMal]

Back to WOW's B-ball challenge. By all means, take him up on it Skandery. I have met Miguel and I know his weaknesses. He can be had on the court like taking the thick roll away from a wined-up derelict. Similar connection as well, because the wino's roll is just about as valuable as WOW's alledged skills. If you spot him twenty and the ball, you might not see him cry too much afterwards.

As for Laker Dan and his problem area on this board, I completely understand. Why dabods chose to address the "Checker Dan" issue instead of the other one is a bit strange, considering that Dan has always been our official spot checker on the board, with insults, and the other one has always been our official board "WOW Wowser" < now, I, for one, never knew THAT particular void required filling on boards like this one, but then I am no browser 'expert'.>

Since I am totally in agreement with Dan's penchant for keeping our language skills sharp in an electronic world that is quickly dispersing with that notion, I would support a move towards that goal much more then allowing the ninth grade level pissing contests that seem to be the preferred method of communication on this board.

For similar reasons, I have only periodically been posting around here for some time. While the joke was novel once, my age seems to be the only thing anyone thinks about any longer when I do post and that joke is older then I care to admit I am. That includes Checker Dan, who, while a sharp critic of language errors, has no originality when it comes to insults either. If you notice, when I insult, I do it with some thought applied because I do not want to be trite.

I enjoy your basketball discussions on the board, and some of the other topics, certainly, but I do not care for pedestrian repartee'. What is the point? What is the point of having language skills that mankind has developed and perfected for thousands of years only to see people dismiss them as useless when text-messaging each other during English class?

I now am the assistant chief in my unit and have to recruit people to work here. The lack of language skills evident from the candidates is a clear sign of this failure to learn how to produce coherent correspondence. Perhaps THEY do not think it necessary, because not all jobs require it, but work in THIS unit certainly does require it. This recent promotion, by the way, is another reason I have been absent so much from here. That, in itself has not caused any direct issues, except I am not in my office as much and when I am there I have much else to do.

Now, typically, since I have just posted, you all can start in with your age insults. Odd, too, because from the sound of some of you, your chronological ages don't match your actual ages. How can you all sound fifteen but hope that your bodies last until you make fifty?

At least I do not have that problem.

[Derek Bodner]

So ban me then, Reality can crawl into the gutter with all of his vitriolic hate, insults and garbage he spews, WOW and everyone else can be drawn into his little traps and nary a word from you Derek, I correct someone's spelling and that's what I get? Please!

First of all, I don't ban people (on this side of the forum).  Never have, never will, never want to.  I don't run these forums.  I don't moderate these forums.  All I do is run the server that hosts it.  That's it.

Second, I responded to you coming from the point of view as a poster not as any sort of authority running the forum.  I responded to yours and not rick's for two reasons:
I generally ignore a lot of what rick posts, because I so often disagree with the assertions he makes.  I happened to read your post.

Perhaps more importantly, I feel you're extremely hypocritical.  Not cursing doesn't change the content of your post.  It doesn't make you better.  It doesn't make you civilized.  You've been a pretty constant condescending, demeaning, and attacking horses behind for quite a while now.  The fact that you don't say 4 letter words while doing so doesn't change that.  The fact that you "only" attack one or two posters shows your pettiness, and that you're really no better than those you are attacking.

virtually EVERY SINGLE BIT of the hate, baiting, silly childishness, and utter shameless attempts elicit NEGATIVE reactions come from one source, and one source only

Please.

Some examples:

Having offered my brief yet precise observation on the utter joke some people are here

I will preface this by acknowledging my self-imposed exile will make some think I am making these comments with the luxury of hindsight, however, the truly intelligent ones know me better than that;

All Rick does is prove we can have 2 village idiots on this board, but at least he's not throwing his team under the bus and giving fairly clear signs he is ready to jump ship... again

hat is a label that keeps me away from this board, the childish rants of little pukes that have nothing better to do than instigate and incite turmoil rather than engage in reasonable and intelligent basketball discussion, oh and post pictures of half naked women thus revealing their true moral compunction.

Seriously, it gets painful to wade through the tripe to get to such an insightful post as the one you just put up,

just don't understand why intelligent people allow themselves to be drawn into the idiocy and moronic baiting of someone who belongs on fanhome

It's not so much the bashing, you're as brutal as anyone, it the sheer nonsensical stupidity and hate for hate's sake I can't deal with

Like you my esteemed fellow Laker fan, I post rarely, (primarily due to the idiocy of one person who shall remain nameless) but when you do your brilliance is as usual, flawless.

and that's just going back through your last 30 posts!

Nearly every one of those posts were unprovoked.  You were not responding to the person calling you names.  You were bringing them up on your on volition.  You have taken EVERY OPPORTUNITY YOU'VE GOTTEN to call someone else names, to tell everyone how stupid you feel they are, how superior you are.

What's your response?  "Oh, well he does it too!  nyah-nyah-nyah"?  Really?  What are we, 7?  I thought you were the one promoting your superiority and their inferiority? 

Seriously, can the elitism, put the person on block, or shut up.  If you can't see you're part of the problem, them I'm sorry.

[JoMal]

So ban me then, Reality can crawl into the gutter with all of his vitriolic hate, insults and garbage he spews, WOW and everyone else can be drawn into his little traps and nary a word from you Derek, I correct someone's spelling and that's what I get? Please!

First of all, I don't ban people (on this side of the forum).  Never have, never will, never want to.  I don't run these forums.  I don't moderate these forums.  All I do is run the server that hosts it.  That's it.

Second, I responded to you coming from the point of view as a poster not as any sort of authority running the forum.  I responded to yours and not rick's for two reasons:
I generally ignore a lot of what rick posts, because I so often disagree with the assertions he makes.  I happened to read your post.

Perhaps more importantly, I feel you're extremely hypocritical.  Not cursing doesn't change the content of your post.  It doesn't make you better.  It doesn't make you civilized.  You've been a pretty constant condescending, demeaning, and attacking horses behind for quite a while now.  The fact that you don't say 4 letter words while doing so doesn't change that.  The fact that you "only" attack one or two posters shows your pettiness, and that you're really no better than those you are attacking.

virtually EVERY SINGLE BIT of the hate, baiting, silly childishness, and utter shameless attempts elicit NEGATIVE reactions come from one source, and one source only

Please.

Some examples:

Having offered my brief yet precise observation on the utter joke some people are here

I will preface this by acknowledging my self-imposed exile will make some think I am making these comments with the luxury of hindsight, however, the truly intelligent ones know me better than that;

All Rick does is prove we can have 2 village idiots on this board, but at least he's not throwing his team under the bus and giving fairly clear signs he is ready to jump ship... again

hat is a label that keeps me away from this board, the childish rants of little pukes that have nothing better to do than instigate and incite turmoil rather than engage in reasonable and intelligent basketball discussion, oh and post pictures of half naked women thus revealing their true moral compunction.

Seriously, it gets painful to wade through the tripe to get to such an insightful post as the one you just put up,

just don't understand why intelligent people allow themselves to be drawn into the idiocy and moronic baiting of someone who belongs on fanhome

It's not so much the bashing, you're as brutal as anyone, it the sheer nonsensical stupidity and hate for hate's sake I can't deal with

Like you my esteemed fellow Laker fan, I post rarely, (primarily due to the idiocy of one person who shall remain nameless) but when you do your brilliance is as usual, flawless.

and that's just going back through your last 30 posts!

Nearly every one of those posts were unprovoked.  You were not responding to the person calling you names.  You were bringing them up on your on volition.  You have taken EVERY OPPORTUNITY YOU'VE GOTTEN to call someone else names, to tell everyone how stupid you feel they are, how superior you are.

What's your response?  "Oh, well he does it too!  nyah-nyah-nyah"?  Really?  What are we, 7?  I thought you were the one promoting your superiority and their inferiority? 

Seriously, can the elitism, put the person on block, or shut up.  If you can't see you're part of the problem, them I'm sorry.

Well, that post should effectively eliminate any lingering doubts about whether or not Laker Dan will continue displaying his elitism on this forum.

One question, Derek. Did I miss the preemptive warning shot over Dan's bow, or was the "petty, unreadable, jab" post considered the caveat implore. 

[WayOutWest]

Back to WOW's B-ball challenge. By all means, take him up on it Skandery. I have met Miguel and I know his weaknesses. He can be had on the court like taking the thick roll away from a wined-up derelict. Similar connection as well, because the wino's roll is just about as valuable as WOW's alledged skills. If you spot him twenty and the ball, you might not see him cry too much afterwards.

Since you're a fan of the Sacklessmental Queens I would not expect you to have any real b-ball knowledge.  In all honesty, of all the people I've met or seen pics of on this board you would be the most a difficult matchup for me, btw that's not saying much.  I would own Skandypants like a $.99 bag of Chile and Lime Fritos because he is way too think to hold his position.  Joe V I would just shoot over and even with my busted knees I would probably be too quick and, DON'T LAUGH, athletic for him to gurad.  JoMal is tall enough and has enough mass to cause me problems and I would have to try and out-quick him but that's close to impossible because I've lost 50% of my mobility due to my busted knees.  When I really messed them up I stopped playing, which caused me to be less active and get heavier and getting heavier caused even more knee problems. 

I'd like to see video of Joe and his crew playing so I could tell you more accurately by how many points I would beat thier backwoods arses. 

Reality would be a cake walk cause he's a dork and I would probably wear my Kobe jersey and he would be so mezmorized that he wouldn't even score a point.

weakkoast only game experience is on this 2nd tier PS3 so no sweat there.....

As for Laker Dan and his problem area on this board, I completely understand. Why dabods chose to address the "Checker Dan" issue instead of the other one is a bit strange, considering that Dan has always been our official spot checker on the board, with insults, and the other one has always been our official board "WOW Wowser" < now, I, for one, never knew THAT particular void required filling on boards like this one, but then I am no browser 'expert'.>

I can't even spell HTNL...techie joke btw.....I know practically nothing about kiddie internet stuff like browsers, I leave that to the children that call themselves "IT Dept." but my SUPERIOR analytical brain can find a pattern in everything including the "toys" on this or any board.  I know this seems like some great skill to you "knowledge" brain types aka grammar geeks, but it's really no sweat.

Speaking of tech....any programmers care to give me some help/insight as to why I get this error:

Dim x as Integer

For x  = 0 to JomalsAge
   'This is where I put my SQL Statements.
Next x

My PC keeps crashing with the following dialog box error message:

Integer Overflow Error!

[WayOutWest]

I thought you were the one promoting your superiority and their inferiority? 

Actually that is me....and rightfully so.....

[WayOutWest]

Fact of the matter is that I like the people here;  there's not a one of you I wouldn't absolutely adore meeting, and I hope we all get the chance.

With the exception of westkoast, I feel the exact same way.  I've met quite a few of the guys already, funny thing is that the guys that actually live nearby are the hardest to nail down.  When I was planning my trip to Philly I didn't get the vibe from the Philly dorks that meeting up was an option so I'll have to be more direct if I ever get out there again.

After meeting Ted I feel I can get along with anybody on this board, if anybody is a polar opposite of me it's Ted/Dan/Joe, maybe Dan takes that contest.  (I'm sure to his delight).  Ted seems so conservative and well mannered, I thought it might be akward to meet him but that wasn't the case.  We even had stuff in common, like hanging around Disneyland after dark.

[JoMal]

Speaking of tech....any programmers care to give me some help/insight as to why I get this error:

Dim x as Integer

For x  = 0 to JomalsAge
   'This is where I put my SQL Statements.
Next x

My PC keeps crashing with the following dialog box error message:

Integer Overflow Error!

Try having more substantial wet dreams.

[msc]

Everyone raises some valid points in this thread. 

Like many others I haven't been posting as much this year and I never really posted as much to begin with (probably a good thing if you ask most here  )

I'd hate to see anyone else leave the board over something so silly.  One thing everyone seems to agree on is that they like coming here and even in with all of our busy schedules we'll still drop in if just to gleam a few posts and then get back to work. 

If for no other reason, we have to keep this together for Ziggy.  His post resonated with me the most.  Maybe it's because I have relatives that live in Portland and spent my college years in Eugene, but it sucks that the Blazers are kicking butt right now and we're not here talking about it enough.  And besides the upstart Blazers, it's the playoffs!  I for one will do my best to step up my game on this board and I promise to do my best not to turn every thing in to a Laker post ... I know it will be hard, but I'll try 

So on that note, a couple of thoughts from the last couple of days of playoff basketball: 

1.  Huge bounce back by the Blazers.  I didn't get to watch the game since it conflicted with some other team in the league, but in watching the highlights and reading the reviews, Roy and Aldridge really stepped up.  As captains of the team, that is expected, but with their youth it would be understandable if they didn't.  All of us could have just chalked it up as "youth" and/or a "lack of experience".  But not these two.  These kids are the real deal and have all of the tools to lead this Blazer team back to the top of the league where they belong.  Additionally, it appeared the Blazer D did a much better job of keeping Yao out of his comfort area as well as defending Brooks on the high screen and roll.  Since I was unable to watch the game it's hard to tell why Yao didn't get more touches.  I know the Blazers did a better job of denial, but still he needs to be force fed the ball and he wasn't.  My assumption would be that Artest dominated the ball too much on the offense floor, which he tends to do.  That said, maybe Ziggy can chime in a little here because I'd be curious to know.  Also, what's up with Greg Odon?  4 points and 4 boards?  I don't expect the kid to be a 20/10 guy in his first year, but those numbers are pretty forgettable. 

2.  Chauncy Billups is playing out of his tree!  He has 67 points over two games and 0 turnovers ... as a point guard?!?  That is insane.  This guy always seems to play big in the playoffs, but this has to be the biggest yet.  And what is he, 35?  Amazing.  I guess Chris Paul isn't the only point guard in the league, which is what one would assume if they've ever listened to a TNT/ABC/ESPN broadcast.  Not a knock on Paul, he's an incredible young talent, but Chauncy clearly is proving to all that he's not the be-all-end-all at the point guard position.  This has proven to be a brilliant trade by Denver and I'm starting to believe that they are a legitimate threat to win the West. 

3.  Philly/Orlando.  This series has surprised me so far.  I expected the young, athletic 76ers to give them some trouble, but I didn't think they'd give them as much as they have.  And really, Philly was in that game up until the end of the 4th last night, and had it not been for a surprising 24 point performance from Orlando's rookie Lee, Philly wins that game and is up 2-0 going home.  I thought Orlando's style of play would be suspect in the playoffs, but I didn't think they'd have a problem with Philly in the first round and they are. 

4.  I'll echo Skandery's sentiment on Boston ... thank God for Rhondo!  I was checking the box score online of game two while at work and noticed Boston was in another dog fight with the Bulls.  They were near tied at half and Rhondo already almost had a triple double ... meanwhile Pierce and Ray Ray were having sub-par games again.  Obviously, Ray lit it up in the second, but I started wondering what was going on in those vets heads while they're doing nothing and this young kid was leading the team like a seasoned vet.  Well, obviously Ray Allen responded just in the nick of time.  That series has been the most enjoyable for me to watch so far and I usually don't get as sucked in to the Eastern Conference games. 

5.  I'm so tired of the talk like it's a foregone conclusion that the Lakers will represent the west in the finals.  Maybe it's just the homers here in LA, but it's delusional.  Anyone who's paid attention knows that this team is not as good as they think they are.  They are loaded with talent, but they still haven't exhibited the consistent defensive intensity that it takes to win the conference and ultimately a championship.  Tuesday's game was a perfect example.  It took near perfect shooting from the likes of Ariza, Gasol, Shannon Brown and Odom and they still found themselves up only 3 with a few minutes left at home.  Utah is a good team and they're not going to lay down.  I predict Utah wins tonight and likely Saturday too.  Much like last year, it's so predictable with this Laker team. 

6.  Dampier is an idiot.  He can say whatever he wants, but Parker is still just going to take it too him and draw the foul.  I'll be surprised if Dampier stays on the floor more than 15 minutes with the quick fouls he's going to pick up tonight.  Spurs win this one walking away. 

Looking forward to the games tonight ... hopefully I can get out of work in time to catch the Dallas/SA game.  Peace!

[Derek Bodner]

One question, Derek. Did I miss the preemptive warning shot over Dan's bow, or was the "petty, unreadable, jab" post considered the caveat implore.

If there are two things that rile me up more than anything, it's a superiority complex and hypocrisy.  Dan's irked me for quite a while.  My response to his initial jab at Rick (which absolutely was not "just correcting someone's spelling" as Dan tried to pass it off as) was quite tame I thought, and questioning the necessity of it was not out of line.  When Dan responded with the "how can you pick on me, everyone else is worse, what you did took a lot of nerve" post it sends me into a frenzy.

And, again, I don't view myself as any sort of authority or moderating presence on the board.  I will not ban anyone.  That's not what I want.  I have enough of a headache in my daily life to have to come home and worry about stupid crap.  This is coming purely as a co-poster on the community.  It's stupid back and forths (that Dan is very much a part of) that is making it almost unbearable to come here and try to even read (much less post) on this section of the forum.