I will start by saying that I am not the best follower or strategist of NBA basketball. As a competitor and former athlete...What I witnessed during these playoffs is complete GARBAGE!!! I played baseball...on a decent level. Never ONCE did my coach adjust the way we got to the playoffs...NEVER!!! He went with what got us there...period! I watched the Lakers in the playoff run...and to be honest...I'm surprised they made it out of the Western Conference. Everyone has the right to their opinion and who they blame...here's my reasons. Coaching...Top to Bottom. Why de-activate Mbenga? He got you thru the season. Why is Mihm anywhere NEAR the bench? If Ariza is active...Why not use him? Why did the strategy that worked during the regular season go to the way side, while trying to employ something new and unfamiliar? The Lakers could've taken this series in five or six games...they had what it took. Phil Jackson took most of it away and tried something new. New strategies and different plays are for practice and summer games...not the NBA Finals. Phil Jackson got what he deserved. The players did not...neither did the faithful fans of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Hey...maybe next year. That seems to be the motto embedded in the teams head.

For me...a knife in the stomach doesn't begin to describe my feelings about the Lakers. I feel like I've swallowed an entire, AS Seen On TV steak knife set and I'm waiting for the 'Free' set to go down, as I was one of the first 50 people to make an order.

This rant is from the outside looking in...if I am missing something...I have no problem with being criticized...I'm just that mad about this whole thing.

Anger and Other Emotions

Hello! It has been a while since I last wrote...but I'm feeling great today...the week is finally over. This was a week filled with a mix of anger and frustration...and though the sky was bright with sunshine...everyone, at work, seemed to be filled with gloom. It started on Sunday...I took my daughter to the movies...which meant seeing my ex-wife. Do you remember the old, Choose Your Own Adventure books? Well, seeing her is like that...the only difference is...I can't turn back the pages, once the story starts to turn bad. I guess I picked the right course...as I found myself alive after the encounter. So, my daughter and I went to see...10,000 BC. I mark that as the starting point of a week gone bad. I will spare you all the details and just say...worst movie I've ever seen. We were sitting in the top row...within the first thirty minutes, we could see the lights on watches and cell phones flicking on and off, as everyone checked the time. Which was bad for me...you see...I have this unexplainable complex...if I see someone check their cell phone...I pull out mine...ringing or not. I must've checked the time every two minutes...which made the movie that much longer. The movie was so bad, that we stuck around just to see if it came to an end.

Then from 7 am on Monday morning to noon on Friday...was pure madness. I blame myself...I can't honestly believe every person I ran into had a bad attitude...but for that moment I believed they did. My communication skills must've been lacking, as every person I spoke with didn't have a clue as to what I was talking about...including my students. The middle of my week, included Jury Duty...I really didn't want to do it, but at least I wouldn't be at work...after an hour of service...I was released, because I had already served in the past year. Great...back to work. Thursday came and went...and my last class finished Friday morning. My boss is one of the best around...as he cut me loose at noon, to begin my weekend.

Now, I don't really want to describe my entire week...I'd like to talk about what cheered me up. I am not playing the part of an anger management type dude, either. Just something that helped me put situations in perspective. I was talking with a friend and I noticed he had a new Wii game controller...Why? He smashed the other one against the floor, during a golf game. We both started laughing at it...but at the time...it was the right thing for him to do!!! After all...it IS the controllers fault...not the guy operating it. Years ago, I had another friend do the same thing...he went thru many, many controllers...and I was witness to most of them. We were roommates, on a deployment, in the military. He was a die-hard...playing a full 162 game season of baseball...when playoff time came around...he sometimes lost, before getting to the World Series. If it were me...after 162 games...I'm hitting reset until I win the whole damn thing! Not him. After many combinations of cuss words...I had a Sega controller launched to my side of the room...crashing into the light switch on our wall. Lights went out and we learned how to turn them back on, after a series of experiments involving a toothbrush and the perfect combination of coins...we used that method for a week, before it was fixed. Again...what caused him to do that? I could never convince him to use the reset button. Hindsight...pretty funny.

Here's some other situations...some you may be able to look back on...others that just make you mad!

The computer. I love a computer...it allows me to send out stuff like this. I hate it when they lock up...I believe rapid wiggling of the mouse will cure the problem...it doesn't, neither does walking away for a few minutes, hoping the damn thing will be active again. Another thing that frustrates me...my ignorance of the internet. I once received an email, at work, that had a web page link..."Shark versus Octopus...You won't believe the outcome." Hmm...well, I gotta click on THAT!!! The result...a giant Pornado...in my office. Porn sites flooded my computer until it finally shut down. After the last ounce of panic finally left my body...the anger started in, as I called my friend that sent it. He laughed...I wasn't so nice about it. Looking back...I can see why he was laughing so hard. I'm just glad it wasn't picked up by the office computer dude.

Here's a classic. Smacking yourself on the thumb with a hammer. As bad as this pisses you off...you had better hope that you don't have an audience to see your reaction. Especially if you throw the hammer against a sheet of plywood...and it bounces off...straight into your shin. I would be lying to you, if I said I was one of the people that watched this happen.

I have been witness to this one though. The funniest sound in the world...listening to someone jam their toes into a piece of furniture, while trying to navigate their way through the house in the middle of the night. There is something about the sound of the strike and the "Ahh...Ooooooo! Damn!", breaking the silence of someone trying to be quite. Why don't we just turn the light on?...because we're trying to be polite at 2 am.

When did the "Next person in line" become the last person in line? You are standing in line...then another cashier opens up saying, "I can take the next person in line"...and the jack ball that just got in line makes a run towards it.

Traffic Cameras. If you've ever had your picture taken after blowing thru a red light...you'll understand the frustration that goes with these damn things. First, it's wondering if you were the reason, it felt like old Polariod Flash Cubes were going off in your face. After that it's the dread of looking thru your mail...and once the letter comes...the shock sets in. Mine was $351. I felt like taking a bag of quarters down to the court house to pay it off...then I realized, they may make me stick around to count it all out.

Back to the Flash Cubes...and I know it's a little off-subject, but if you ever had your picture taken using one of these bulbs...you'll never forget it. Say cheese..."Click"..."Blumph" as you hear the cube, twist in the plastic of the camera..."Emmm...Nnnn...Eehhh" fills your ears while the photo ejects...then the flapping sound that follows...in order to cool it, so you could see the image. As a kid, I was praying it turned out good, because my vision was barely good enough see where the camera was for the next picture. "No...over here...NO...over HERE!"...Alright, just point my head where you want it and let me know when to smile.

You can release much of your tension, stress, anger...or past experiences...thru music. I was a stubborn 'old heavy metal' fan...I found vents thru Metallica and Ozzy...I still do. However, I find better vents thru bands called, Five Finger Death Punch...or Skindred. Don't ask me what album to buy or download to get...you could play any song from my new favorites and I'd identify them...I just couldn't tell what the song was...but, I'd be motivated. Please ignore the band names...I didn't violate rodents in the 80's with Ozzy...and I'm sure I won't Punch anyone in the 00's.

Have a great week.

Tommy