Sunday Night

It's Sunday night and the NBA All-Star game has just begun. These games are always so fun to watch because these guys are the best of the best and they're all able to showcase their abilities all on the same court. The score always seems to be in the mid-100's by the time that it's all said and done. I'll have more on the game tomorrow.

I got to sleep in today which is always nice, but it might get a little out of control this week (we can't be at the field until 2:00). I got up and decided that my hair needed to be cut because it was starting to get to the point where when I woke up you could tell that some of my hairs were out of place. So I took the easiest and cheapest route and went ahead and did it myself. After my haircut I headed over to Duffy's for some Slingbox action. Today's schedule of shows included Dinner: Impossible and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. By now everyone should know about Dinner: Impossible but Bizarre Foods is new to my blog. This show is basically about a man (Andrew Zimmern) who travels the world and tries out the craziest/nastiest foods on the planet. If you know my dad I think you know that he could probably do this. Today Andrew was in Taiwan and tried stinky tofu and chicken throats. After being in Taiwan for a week I came to appreciate the smells that he talked about during the show. Everywhere you go you get a good whiff of some not so pleasant food. It really makes you lose your appetite. With that fresh in my mind I took the short walk over to Vinny's Pizza. I had a gigantic slice of buffalo chicken pizza and a slice of cheese. They have great New York style pizza, my favorite. Keep in mind I don't eat healthy on Sundays! After I ate I came back to the hotel and layed down for a little and watched some gymnastics. I actually enjoy watching gymnastics every now and then, it's just a shame I've never seen Drew do gymnastics, kind of odd right? I started to feel a little lazy and worthless so I had to get up and do something.

I contemplated between the workout room and the pool. I don't have the right shoes here at the hotel and it was a perfect day outside, so it was an easy choice. I worked out in the pool for about 45 minutes, doing some agility work and some sprinting exercises. By the time that I was done I was hungy again and thankfully Brett and Lindsey were also. They came and picked me up from the hotel and we headed over to Rancho Chico off of US-1. It was good to have some Mexican, it feels like it's been forever since I've had any. Speaking of Mexican, I think that having Rancho Grande for food at a wedding reception would be amazing. I'm just going to have to convince Drew of the same thing. I got back to the hotel and that's where I'm at now...

Last night I watched Caddyshack, an absolute classic. I had never seen the whole movie all the way through. I've seen bits and pieces that have probably all added up to the whole thing but that's not the same. What I love so much about this movie is all of the unique characters and the different plots that they have going on throughout the movie. Obviously I recommend this movie.

Now I'm to the point that everyone has been waiting for...my take on last night's all-star festivities. The skills challenge was a nice appetizer, it got me in the basketball mood. Next up was the 3 point shootout. Normally I'm not a big fan of this event, but when a guy scores 25 and ties the single session score like Jason Kapono did last night, it's easy to see why it was better than ever last night. All of that lead up to the the main course...the dunk contest!

Like I had said last night, the person that was going to be the most creative was the one that was going to win...and I was definitely right. Oh ya I also chose Dwight Howard to win...and he did. Anyways, here are some of my favorite dunks from last night.

I'll start off with Gerald Green. His first dunk he called the "birthday cake". He put a cupcake with a lit candle on the back of the rim and blew it out as he threw down a 2 handed dunk. This one only got a 45 and was very creative. His next dunk involved his teammate Rashad McCants and a ladder. McCants sat on top of the ladder with the ball. As Green approached him he tossed the ball up in the air and Green, all in one motion, caught it and did a windmill. His next dunk also included McCants. This one McCants was standing behind the basket, out of bounds. He threw the ball over the backboard, Green caught the ball, went between his legs, and threw it down with his right hand. This dunk 10 years ago might have been looked upon as one of the greatest ever but because it has been done before it didn't get as many points as it probably deserved. His last dunk was performed with no shoes and in his socks. This dunk was a simple (for him) between the legs. I don't think people really understood how tough it is to be able to keep your feet with only socks on jumping off of a hardwood floor!! The last time I was in my socks on a hardwood floor I think I tore my meniscus! This was an extremely underestimated dunk. Anyways, the defending champion put up a great showing.

Next up is the champion, Dwight Howard. In his first dunk he started from out of bounds, behind the basket. He threw the ball off the back of the glass and tossed it down, windmill style with his left hand (the first picture is of this dunk). He's one of the only guys that can do this because his arms are so incredibly long. His head was behind the basket while he was dunking the ball!! Absolutely amazing! His next dunk was the most popular one of the night (and what the second picture is of). He set it up by putting on a Superman cape and put down a piece of tape down right in front of the free throw line. His partner, Jameer Nelson, threw the ball up as he approached the line and Howard took off, off of two feet. The amazing part of this one was how high he got. This is where it gets a little tricky. He didn't actually dunk the ball, he just threw it in. He still got a 50 on the dunk because of the wow factor, but I'm not so sure that it should have even counted. It was still amazing though. His next dunk I thought was his best. He lobbed the ball up to himself and once he was at the peak of his jump he tapped the ball off the backboard with his left hand and dunked it on his way down with his right, an absolute tremendous showing of jumping ability and athleticism. That dunk was definitely his most creative. For his final dunk he put up a mini basket to the right of the rim. He then placed the basketball on the mini goal. At the peak of his jump on this one he grabbed the ball off of the mini goal and proceeded to windmill it home with his right hand.

When it was all said and done it was definitely the best dunk contest since Vince Carter in 2000. Hopefully this year sparked the creative juices within some of the NBA's best jumpers.

Last night was a great night, it definitely showed why it's one of my favorite sporting event days during the year.

*No matter how long it takes or how hard I have to try I will succeed at what I want.