Stephen A Smith Doesn't Believe in Freedom of Speech

In post today by SPORTSbyBROOKS, Stephen A Smith apparently doesn't think that bloggers should be allowed to reach a big audience. He goes on to say that

someone with no training should not be allowed to have any kind of format whatsoever to disseminate to the masses to the level which they can. They are not trained. Not experts.

I suppose that only obnoxious blowhards like Smith can "disseminate to the masses." I've talked before about how big of an idiot he is, but seriously, he's basically saying that no one should be able to blog about sports unless they are "professionals" or, more likely, have their own show (even if it was canceled because it sucked so bad...ring a bell?)

Context

After reading through the cases on the establishment clause, I get really sick of all the dissenting (read: LOSING) justices trying to make their case by quoting President Washington ("...with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God") and any other litany of practices and quotes from the Revolutionary Period. Can we please also note that they wanted to count black people as 3/5 of a person? The Framers were not infallible paragons of virtue.

Grammar Nazi Strikes Again

Special thanks to the AP.

Dear Arizona State Punter...

You owe me $30 after your amazing 30 yard punt. I expect a check in the mail ASAP.

Don't Take it so Personally...

The Jazz were on ESPN last night against the Lakers and dominated them by 24 points. Derek Fisher, formerly of the Jazz and currently with the Lakers, was booed all night. Let me give you a brief rundown on why this is significant:

• Fisher played with the Lakers before joining the Jazz
• Jazz fans, for the most part, really really hate the Lakers
• When Fish signed with the Jazz, we were all excited because he's pretty good and is a good leader
• Fish came up HUGE against the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs
• We also found out that his daughter has a rare form of eye cancer during the first round

Those are the basic facts. Now, after the season ended he asked to be released from his contract with the Jazz (this NEVER happens...) so that he could move his family closer to a treatment facility and the Jazz were more than happy to comply (family stuff trumps all with the Jazz, and they didn't want to be heartless bastards). Here comes the nasty part...HE SIGNS BACK WITH THE LAKERS! To Jazz fans (myself included) it was like he saw a chance to get outta Dodge and he took it.

Look at it this way, during the off-season the players scatter like cockroaches, going back to their home cities. During basketball season they're on the road half the time and don't get to spend much time at home anyway. How hard would it have been to move the family to LA and come "home" when there's an extended break of 3-5 days (or 10 days during All-star Weekend)? It's a 90 min flight from SLC to LAX! If he had signed with the Knicks (NY HAS to have a good treatment center) then everyone would understand.

Seriously, he only got booed because he signed with the Lakers. He wants to think that we're pissed that he left, WRONG, we're pissed he's wearing yellow.

Ummm.......what?

So I noticed a new trailer on Apple.com yesterday and, after watching it, I sent the link to Roomie since it seems right up his alley. This is the response I got:

Ahhh interesting. Oh wait!

MAJOR PLOT FLAW ALERT!!!!!!

For a site to be ‘untraceable’ it would require an insane amount of hops (bounces) around the world along with a TOR like configuration which significantly reduces ping time and throughput speed. This would render a site like that (particularly streaming media) utterly useless and even a minimal amount of hits would bring it to its knees!

CASE CLOSED – STRAIGHT TO DVD.

Uhh...ok, sure! Sounds right....I guess...

I might be a little obssessed

As I was blogging earlier, I happened to glance down and notice my Jazz notepad and coffee mug sitting right by each other. This doesn't mean much except that my desktop is Jazz, and so are my keys, and my license plate, and, well, here are the pictures to prove my insanity...

(Just got the plate and frame last Friday at the Jazz game)

I didn't bother to post pics of my Jazz apparel, I don't have that much time.

Some Good Comes from the NFL / Cable Disupute

So, as I'm sure everyone has heard by now, there was a big game on TV tonight. My beloved Packers vs the hated and ugly Cowboys. I would have LOVED to watch this game from my couch, where I have easy access to the fridge, bathroom, and remote; BUT, this game was on the NFL Network and due to some disputes with the big cable companies, less than 40% of the country can even GET the NFL Network. I live in part of that 60% that can't get the game, so I had to venture out of my apartment to the local watering hole to see the game. Turns out I'm not the only Pack fan in this town (SURPRISE!), the place was totally PACKED (pun intended) including about 20 other 2Ls /3Ls and even some 1Ls. This meant that I could yell and scream as if it were a big college game. I talked some trash, gave multiple high-fives, and drank about a dozen Cokes. It was the most fun I have had since the big karaoke bash and probably a top five-er for the year. It would have been perfect, though, had the Pack pulled out a victory...

The More Things Change...

I'm seriously surprised that it has taken me so long to get this way, but for the first time in my life, I really feel like I just want to be alone (as in, no significant other) and be especially selfish. I want to be myself and play Xbox when I want, go out when I want, talk to anyone that I want, eat what I want when I want (more on this later) and just be the guy that I wanted to be in college but never felt the significance of how much it would change my lifestyle.

The "relationship that almost was" is over and I couldn't feel better about it. Not because I don't like her (she's way fun) but because even in the early stages of the BF/GF thing that it almost was, I still felt trapped in a cage. I needed me time to do, literally, nothing.

Now that I am focused on me being me, I really want to spend some time improving myself. I'd like to shed some needed poundage and find out what the hell I want to do after I graduate. I've spent a lot of time being concerned with how I am perceived by others, but at this point I think that ship has sailed. However people view me now isn't likely to change, and even if it did, I'm not going to worry about that anymore.

I could ramble on about all the ways I am wasting away both physically and mentally, but that would be too depressing. Instead of eating fast food on a whim 4-5 times a week, I can have a tuna sandwich at home. Instead of spending my Friday nights on the computer, I can go out and enjoy the company of my friends. Instead of playing Xbox during the afternoons, I can work on outlines and my reading.

I know this sounds a little contradictory to the first paragraph, but when I say "I want to play Xbox when I want," I mean that I don't want to feel guilty about it or feel like I need to "grow up." And when I say that I want to eat what I want when I want, I mean that eating a salad doesn't make me less of a man! (especially the greek salad at Panera).

I think at this point the hate that I have for myself has finally been faced with an ultimatum: keep doing what you've been doing, and you'll keep getting what you've been getting (which is fatter, mediocre grades, and no self-worth).

So here it is folks, mark it down. I'm going to start being the guy I wanted to be when I moved to law school over a year ago.

[update: I just realized that all this was a very round-about way of saying that I am having an identity crisis and I need to figure out "who I am."]

Redemption

This is a public thank you to all those that I apologized to previously. Last night was karaoke night and we TORE. IT. UP.

We got stirring renditions of "Sweet Child of Mine," "Jessie's Girl," "I've Got You Under my Skin," and "Stay (I Missed You)." There was singing and dancing and copious amounts of alcohol.

Just like old times...

Important safety tip

more penetrating insight from CNN.

Bad friend

This is a public apology. I have been a bad friend lately. I want to apologize to Jewel, SLLS, and Jordan. I have been spending time with the new babe and basically been ignoring all other human beings. I am throwing myself on the mercy of the court...

update: upon further examination, I have been a bad friend for most of the semester so far. In attempting to "make up for lost time," as it were, I have neglected you all. Consider this my admission that I have a problem.