Who reads this?

I've always wondered who actually reads my crap. Well, I know I'm known for being one of the few honest bloggers, who doesn't care what people think when I write. But I haven't written all of my "Best" stuff because of backlash from some people who don't like my topics. But really, if you don't like it or don't agree with it, don't read it!

Anyways, I'm just writing about stuff and my opinion of the experiences I have in everyday life. Many of you have not seen me on a daily basis and probably don't know what's going on with me. Lately, not a lot.

For most of 2003, I worked multiple jobs. Since April of last year I started telecommuting with a PR agency based in Kansas City. Then I started doing mortgage with a company in Burlingame at the end of June. Two jobs. Then in October I started my third job, as a teacher for Kaplan, teaching the SAT. Then in November I started my fourth, doing the shot-clock for Stanford's women's basketball team.

Now it's mid-march and I'm back to just two jobs. The PR gig ended with drama and I'm not working with them anymore. The Stanford regular season ended and with it was my hobby of watching lesbi-ball.



To take a few minutes to comment on women's basketball, I shall take that privilege. Well, at first I was the typical male skeptic of women's basketball: it's BORING! Having grown up in Kentucky, watching intense SEC basketball throughout my childhood, I admired some of the greats of men's college basketball: Sam Bowie, Mel Turpin, Kenny Walker, Rex Chapman, Charles Barkely, Chuck Person, Derrick McKey, Buck Johnson, Dominique Wilkins, Moten/Maxwell to name a few. C'mon some of these guys are legendary dunkers (Wilkins, Walker).


And the slam dunk is such a crucial element to the excitement and entertainment value of men's basketball. Without the slam dunk, you might as well watch high school ball which often displays players who can't dunk.

So over the course of the season, I had the best seat in the house - at the half court line at the scorer's table. So I watched the Stanford women destroy some teams, by as much as 50 points. Most of the time, it was through three pointers and layups. To my surprise Maples Pavilion was never empty. In fact, more than half of the seats were filled at all of the games. The crowd even got hecka psyched up. Although, it was a little weird that about 2/3 of the fans were seemingly lesbian. Seeing so many lesbians gave me flashbacks of my old boss when I was a TV reporter in Florida. (S)he was such a bitch! So all I could see was all these flashbacks of The Bitch screaming her(his) head off at me for nit-picky mistakes that I made on my reporting. And half the lesbian audience had that same butchy-bitch haircut that (s)he had.

But it was not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact it was quite exciting at some points to watch women's basketball. Believe it or not, I think the women of Stanford more than earned my respect for their court skills. I would have to give them props for playing better basketball than a lot of guys that I know. First of all, they don't miss free throws as much as guys do. The girls practice their frees more or just concentrate better. But they make their free throws. They also know how to shoot from outside with better form than the guys. Women's basketball has made the 3 point shot into a constant threat. Teams cannot ignore the three when playing Stanford. In fact, at several games, Stanford literally destroyed their opponents by dropping threes all night.



But I do admit that I wish they could dunk. If I was 6'3" I would be slamming the ball down as hard as I could every chance I had. I would watch some fast breaks that would end in jump shots or three pointers or layups. In my mind, I would be saying "uhhhhhh". And sometimes I would let out a "Slam it!@!@!@!@!" to no avail. Even so, I have to say they were good players and it forced them to focus on the fundamentals of basketball instead of styling. Once in a while they would have some great passing that resulted in awesome layups. I have to agree with the legendary coach John Wooden who once said women's basketball is the last bastion of sound fundamentals in basketball.



Another thing that I learned is how hard the people doing the game clock and shot clock are working. Dude, when I told some people that I do the shot clock, they were surprised cuz they all thought it was done by a robot! C'mon. Actually that shows me how perfect other people perform on the shot clock.


But really it's all a matter of good judgment, precision and quick reflexes. Unfortunately, I was not perfect. And I messed up royally a few times (probably about 5-6 times). Luckily none of my mistakes were bad enough to decide the game. I was fortunate that Stanford blows out most of its opponents and my mistakes simply delayed the games. If I do it next year, they'll have newer equipment which might also help prevent some of the mistakes I made (accidentally hitting "blank" instead of reset").



Other musings. I was glad to know that Chelsea Trotter (R-JR), center, 6'3", is a Christian. I saw her one evening at Abundant Life Christian fellowship and spoke with her at the next game. The Stanford athletics website used to list that she wished could meet Jesus, Bill Gates (ughh), and Prince William (ugggghhh). So that was 1/3 cool. She's gonna forego her extra year of eligibility, so I won't get to see her if I do the shot clock next year. Bummer, she's kinda cute! (But I'm prolly not tall enough for her.) In fact that's one advantage of women's basketball compared to men's. At least some of the athletes are cute. The other cutie I saw this season was Gioconda Mendiola of UW. But she throws her elbows a little too violently!



Nichole Powell. Because I was male-basketball chauvinist before this season, I didn't know who she was until this season. Now, I could confidently say that she could kick most guys' asses on the court. One-on-one with non-dunking male players, she could kick any guys' ass! SHE GOT GAME! If she was a man, she'd be considered LeBronesque. She can play forward, guard or center. She's got handles! She can shoot the three, penetrate any piece of fat forward in the women's game, or dribble around the lard, and put the basket in the hole. Nichole was exciting to watch because everytime she had the ball in her hands it meant something was gonna happen. She could take over the game when she had the ball and her numbers were proof. She averaged 20 ppg, 11.1 rpg, and 3.8 rpg. There were a few games where she triple-doubled. She'll easily be a top 3 pick in the WNBA and Stanford will miss her badly next year. She's the only reason why Stanford was a top 10 team this year.



What else do I have to ramble about? Well, for many of you who haven't seen me, you might notice something different about me. Depending on the last time that you've seen me, you will notice accordingly. I've never been serious about diets. Most people would say that diets are false alterations of eating habits, forcing you to eat very little till you starve. Well, that's not true with a low-carb Atkins-like diet. In fact I eat all I want as long as it's not bread, crackers, chips, noodles or any form of carbs. So far I've lost 20 pounds from my heaviest times. Yes, I've dropped 4 belt sizes already. My pants will fall off if I don't wear a belt now. I'm not starving. But I'm not eating carbs. I miss some of those foods. But I don't miss the pounds.