Never EVER Leave Robert Horry Open

I can't believe how foolish the Pistons were. They clawed their way back into Game 5 when San Antonio reverted back to careless and sloppy play, only to lose it by violating the most obvious of dictums: Never leave Robert Horry unguarded when the game is on the line. Ask any Sacramento fan, they'll tell you. They will say that if they had only kept a man on him, kept a hand in his face, their fortunes would have been vastly different. I have to say it again, you cannot leave a guy like him open.

I picked San Antonio to win it all this season, and I am standing by that. They are just a little bit better than the Pistons in every way. Pistons play great D, Spurs play it even better. Pistons are okay on offense, the Spurs can put up points in a hurry. The only area in which Detroit is superior is in their free throws. But the troubling thing is, the Spurs are inconsistent. They remind me of myself in that they are capable of excellence, but they don't sustain that excellence for long stretches. Games 3 and 4 were ugly. They never turn over the ball as much as they did in those games. Just like when I am playing chess. Sometimes I am in the zone and I avoid all the opponent's traps and bring off my strategies and tactics without anyone being able to do anything about it. And then there are times, I tell you, I just revert to the old days where I just walk right into the obvious, give away knights and bishops like they are candy, fail to execute a plan, and generally play like a patzer. Of course, after a spell, I return to my sharp play, but I hate that tendency in San Antonio as much as I hate it in myself. They are a great team, but they definitely have room for improvement. And Detroit should have known it, should have seen it coming. Like these clowns who think that they own me because they won the last few games (when really they didn't win, I just lost), Detroit got the sinking feeling a man gets when he's kicked in the jewels when San Antonio finally woke up. I was playing a guy and he beat me like a rented mule until I got my head in the game. After that I couldn't lose. I gave away queens and rooks with a lavish hand and still won brilliantly. That's how you have to do it. I respect people who are consistently excellent, but I know myself well enough to know that my best comes in fits and starts, flashes and spurts. Opponents should keep a wary eye of people and teams like that, because you never know when the torrent will fall.

What in the World is Wrong with the NBA???

These Finals are really bothering me. In each game, at least one team has failed to bring it for the whole 48 minutes. I can't even watch. San Antonio is playing like I have never seen them play before. I am starting to wonder if these finals really are fixed. If they aren't fixed then they are definitely ...stage managed? I don't know what, but something is fishy. This should be the Spurs attempting to three-peat and they look like a bunch of ringers at the Y. Makes no sense at all. Mt church squad could beat either of these teams on a given night. This is genuinely disappointing.

From Glory to Glory

I'm sitting on top of the world!! The quarter is over, and I earned a solid slate of A's to add to my precious collection. I have two weeks off before I dive back in, and I am gaining confidence by the day. I just finished stomping a hole in some fool's backside (I'm talking about chess), which had the fortunate side effect of bringing my Lightning rating to a respectable 1930. I think 48 hours ago it has mired in the 1700's.I was playing a guy with an expert rating (that is above 2000) and I lost the first game because I was intimidated by his rating. He accepted a rematch and I won. Another rematch, and another win. I am unsure of the total games played, but I did well. Life is good. I ought to go to bed, but I hadn't written in a while and wanted to just shake off the rust. I also have written some new music, which is always a thrill for me. I am toying with some lyrics to go with it, but just the instrumental is fine with me. I also just finished building up two computers for my personal use. They are both very nice and loaded with power. I found a SATA HDD with 80 GB for $64, but it didn't format properly and wouldn't complete an installation, so I took it back to the store and found a 200 GB IDE for only $99. Is that 50 cents a gig? Sweeeeeet!! I remember driving up the East Coast looking for a 20 GB HDD for $120 about 5 years ago. If memory serves, I had a 6.4 GB baby and it was starting to fill up fast (Napster was all the rage back then); 20 gig was positively decadent back then. How the far the mighty have come. I have a terabyte easy now. Why am I technobabbling? Go to bed you old fool, it's almost 4 am.