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Game 3 much better

Tonight was the third basketball game of the season for our league team. We saw a dramatic improvement from last game to this in pretty much every aspect of our game. We played better defense, executed better on offense, had more transition buckets because of our defense and we opened up the floor with good perimeter shooting.

Personally, I had a great game: 17+ points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound and 0 turnovers (that I can remember). This was a huge improvement over the last two weeks when I averaged 3.5 ppg. I knocked down at least 3 3-pointers and 4 2-pointers and I might have had 2 more points or so.

That being said, I need to improve my ball handling. I ran Point for most of the game and, although I didn’t have any turnovers, it wasn’t pretty at times. The other team pressured me a few times and I wasn’t pleased with how I responded. Usually, I found a good pass to make to bail myself out, but I hoped I would be more capable of handling the ball on my own. As the line says, 0 turnovers, but there were a few close calls. Also, I need to work on my attitude. We were winning by about 20 and I was still upset when I didn’t get a foul call and I was first to jump on a double-dribble by the opposing team. I just thought I got too wrapped up in the game and I wasn’t having enough fun.

The end.

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Perfectly good 3-day weekend totally wasted

That about sums up my weekend, but I’ll go ahead and hit the highlights: Friday, I did nothing but watch a couple movies. Saturday, I went to Outback Steakhouse for the first time in over six months and then watched Dodge Ball: A True Underdog story. Sunday, more sitting around and watching movies. Today, more of the same along with some grocery shopping and a good workout. Also, I’m pretty close to finishing Mario Kart: Double Dash as I’ve only got Star and Special Cups left for Gold at the 150cc level.

I need to start scrounging around eBay and lookin’ for a life.

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Much better for Game 2

We played our second game of the season on Tuesday and I think we played significantly better than we did in Game 1. Our passing was virtually non-existent in Game 1 whereas we used it very well in Game 2. We ran a faster-paced, up-tempo style offense that suited us very well and we dominated the boards, which gave us a lot of second-chance points. We ended up winning by 13, which was the margin we held for pretty much the whole game.

Personally, I could’ve done a lot better, but I didn’t play poorly. I made good plays, but had trouble finishing around the basket. I only had 3 points on a 3-pointer early in the game. After that, I was all steals and passes. The good news is that I had a lot of chances for points inside because my team was passing well. Normally, I play better around the rim anyway, I just wasn’t getting it done last night. I figure if we keep playing the same and I remember how to finish, I could easily average 10 points a game from here on out. That ain’t bad for 18-minute halves with a continuously running clock.

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Car blues lightening up for now

Well, I took my car for a second opinion today. Turns out the problem wasn’t a “cracked lower intake manifold” (or whatever), but a leaking thermostat housing. Price difference? About $400 American. So, for now, my car’s running fine and I’m just hoping it’ll last me about 6 more months. I’m definitely counting my blessings right now.

Busting fingers

About a month ago, I jammed my left thumb. Last Saturday, I jammed my right index finger. Of course, I was immediately concerned that the index finger would slow me down a lot (it’s surprising how difficult it is to shoot with a busted index finger on my shooting hand), but it seems my concerns were misplaced. Today, as I was playing some three-on-three at the gym, I hurt my thumb again as I was getting a rebound. It’s really sensitive and doesn’t seem to be healing well. Unfortunately, it’s the kind of injury that’s not a big deal until it’s re-aggravated somehow. What I mean is that I could probably play the full game this Wednesday and never know the difference… unless someone nonchalantly bumps my thumb, in which case I will suddenly be in a lot of pain and not a very effective point guard. I’m trying to decide whether I’ll sit Wednesday so I can rehab the thumb, but I’m afraid my stupidity and stubbornness will win out and I’ll end up playing.

I’d really like to be 100%, just to see what I can do. I’m in better shape than I’ve probably ever been, I’m at a good weight, I have pretty good strength and my fundamental basketball skills are definitely better than ever. But I can’t seem to be injury-free long enough to find out what all that means. Very frustrating.

I guess a positive note is that the ankle problem that was hounding me for a couple years seems to be totally gone–it’s back to 100%. Last time I turned it was back in December, right before I came to Dallas. It hasn’t felt this good since April ’02.

Old school video

Tonight, I was looking for a CD that a friend wanted to borrow when I found a copy of an old video that I think was from Fall ’01. It was neat to watch because it was a bunch of my good friends and I playing in a church league game. It was great to see them and interesting to see how slow-paced the game was. I had 24 points–half of which came with 3 minutes or less left and when our team already had a 10-point lead–but I didn’t play a stellar game by any means.

Mostly, I was just glad that my friend didn’t mind spending the game taping instead of watching and chatting with her friends. It’s one of the few videos I have of myself and I happen to be playing ball with a few of my best buds from school. Excellent.

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The car is stupider than I initially suspected

Well, the nice guy at the shop across the street took a look at my car and provided some pretty bad news: “It’s a cracked lower manifold intake [or something like that]. Looks like about 6 hours’ labor, but I can’t do it this weekend because I’m booked solid. I wish I could help you out, but I’ve just got no room for it this weekend.” Super, so I’m lookin’ at 6 hours’ labor at about $65 an hour and I got nobody to work on it! Of course, I mentioned how unenthused I was to drop a bunch of money in a junker and he, sensing my hesitation, said, “You want an honest mechanic’s opinion? Sell it and get out from under it as quick as you can. They [piece of junk Grand Ams] aren’t reliable, they’re tough to work on and the motor doesn’t go back together well when you get in there.” Then, he suggested I put some “Stop Leak” sort of stuff in the car and try to sell it. He even gave me the Stop Leak stuff for free.

So, I’m all of a sudden put in a difficult situation, financially. Do I drop some money (probably $500-600) on a car I hate, just to keep it on the road? Do I go ahead and buy a new car, which I’ve wanted for a while now? Do I get a short term lease so I have something to drive without a high monthly payment until I can free myself up a little more financially? I dunno’. I do know that the decision wouldn’t be difficult at all if this had happened about 6 months from now because I’d be much more free financially. Of course, knowing that, I’m inclined to dump a little more money into the black hole now to buy some time until some other stuff is paid off. That way, I can reconsider when it’s more feasible.

I’m afraid I’m about to put more money into a piece of junk car that I can’t stand. I’ll never buy another Pontiac, regardless of how sweet a deal it is at the time.

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Long but gratifying lesson

My lesson today lasted about 2.5 hours and that’s a long stinkin’ time. The good thing is that the entire lesson was instructive and useful and I feel like I learned a great deal about the two scenes I was working on this week. For next week, I think I’m going to try and find a good monologue from High Fidelity and I’ll work on my business plan. This Sunday, STAGE is having a “Christmas Party” and my instructor is recommending that I go ahead and join. Of course, if he recommends it, I’m in so I’ll see how that goes. Should be a good time and a new experience.

Stupid car

I own a ’98 Pontiac Grand Am SE. It’s a piece of junk and has been since I got it. Today, my “low (coolant) fluid” light came on when I was on my way to my lesson in Ft. Worth. I got it to Ft. Worth and decided I’d fill ‘er up with water after the lesson (I almost brought the DexCool, but decided to leave it at home). Well, after the lesson, I went outside with a little bottle of water only to find a big puddle of coolant next to the curb. Apparently, the car had sprung a leak and wasn’t doing too well. I decided to risk it, fill the reservoir with water and try to make it home. After an hour of staring at the temperature gauge and praying, I found myself in the parking lot of a car repair/maintenance place. The dude that was working (this is 9:30 or so at night and he said they shoulda’ closed about 3 hours ago) took a look and said he couldn’t see much and he’d look at it in the morning. He topped the reservoir off with water and told me where to leave the keys when I drop it off.

First off, I hate my car. Second, the dude at the repair shop should get some sorta’ medal just for taking a minute to look at my car even though he couldn’t see anything. I don’t know how that guy could’ve been there 3 hours after closing and still be willing to say, “Just pull it next to the bay over there, so we can have some light.” Here’s to the nice guy at the repair shop.

No, this post has no point.

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Game 1, done

Well, the good news is we won by about 15. The bad news is that we played pretty poorly, especially during the first half. Basically, our team just needs to be a little more organized with subbing, defense and offense. Other than that, we’re super!

Our subbing was all outta’ wack because no one knew who’d sat and for how long, so when it was time for the sitters to go back in, no one knew who should come out. Our defense was shaky because we didn’t discuss it at all before the game, so on our first defensive possession, we were literally just sort of running around and trying to make sure they didn’t put the ball in the hoop. Offensively, we were just out of synch and we really didn’t have a game plan. In the future, we need a few people to have set responsibilities–a point guard for instance.

For me, personally, I have a lot I could work on, but the biggies were that I wasn’t comfortable with my jump shot, so when I had open looks I put up bad shots. That’s not how I typically play and I’m hoping that was just nerves or something. I also never really got into a rhythm, mostly because the game seemed so short. I ended up with a measly 4 points, a couple rebounds, a couple assists and that’s about it. I also drew 3 fouls on the other guys while committing none myself.

Basically, I think our team can play really well, but we need to be more organized and discuss a game plan before next week. I’m sure we’ll cover that on Saturday at practice.

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B-ball league starts tomorrow

Well, our team has been practicing for a few weeks and, aside from a guy we picked up yesterday, we all know each other pretty well. I feel that our practices have gone well and that we have a well-rounded team with a decent about of basketball knowledge and athleticism. Unfortunately, none of us has any idea what the competition will be like, so we won’t know until tomorrow evening if we’re any good in this league. I feel like we’ll do very well and that we’ve put together a great team, but the scoreboard will either verify or disprove that tomorrow.

Gettin’ that poker itch

It’s been about 6 months since I played poker regularly and I’m startin’ to get really antsy. I’ve been able to put it off for a while, but I’m starting to miss the challenge and intellectual exercise, so I think I’ll be getting back into it soon. First, I need to set a monthly amount that I can play with, so that if I lose, I don’t go dropping a bunch of money on a hobby. Once I’ve established a reasonable monthly amount (probably like $50), I’ll write it down somewhere and see if I can’t get the ball rolling. I’m looking forward to it.

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Revelation

It’s no secret (especially here on the ol’ blog) that I want to be a professional actor. What is kind of a secret is why I want to be a professional actor. I mean, it’s clear that I’m not interested in sitting behind a desk, designing stuff for people for the rest of my life. But what about management? Why not be one of the people having others design stuff for him? Or what about a different career path altogether in a different company? I’ve been asking myself these questions for some time now and it wasn’t until today that I found a satisfactory answer.

Acting seems glamorous, but the more I study it, the more I realize that the glamour is only a small part of the equation. There’s also a lot of hard work involved and, of course, the high percentage chance that a lot of rejection could be in my future. I want to be a professional actor, but I want to be a great actor as well. I want to be good at it, not just successful.

That stuff’s been true from day one. But what I didn’t realize until today is this: I want to be an actor because it’s something where my success will depend wholly on my own abilities and effort. Aside from nepotism and the occasional “big break”, acting is a profession that requires hard work, dedication, patience and skill. There are thousands of actors in Dallas, in L.A., in New York who are practically clones of me in every way. They’re my age, my height, my build, my personality, my basic ability. So my odds of success are slim unless I can find an edge. And I aim to make my edge substantial enough to succeed. For now, I’m learning about the business and I’m hoping I can find an edge with my drive and desire. I hope that drive and desire eventually become manifest in talent. And I hope that talent eventually allows me to act professionally.

But what it comes down to is that I want to be responsible for my own success or failure. Yeah, I’ve been careful to knit a strong, taught net to catch me if I fall, but now I’m headed up the ladder to the tight-rope. In a few months, I hope to start edging out on that tight-rope and then I hope to start walking across it on my own. Hopefully, I’ll have the drive, determination, patience and talent to continue walking the rope, but if I happen to fall, I’ve padded the net with my education. But that’s why my education is there: it’s a fallback. And I’ve always intended for it to be that way. I’m not interested in the Grind and I can’t stand monotony. I’m interested in seeing what I’m made of and that’s why acting is so appealing to me.

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Detroit brings the title back East

If I remember correctly, the East hasn’t won an NBA title since the ’98 Bulls, but Detroit finally brought it back thanks to a whoopin’ they put on L.A. last night. I thought they could do it, but I didn’t think they could do it so well. They literally dominated every aspect of the game and just made the Lakers look silly. I was overtly pulling for Detroit, but secretly pullin’ for Phil Jackson because he coached the Bulls to 6 championships in the 90’s. I used to be a huge Bulls/Michael Jordan fan, so I was also a Phil Jackson fan. I think it’s just too bad that, this time around, Jackson had to be surrounded with some of the cockiest basketball players in the game. Anyway, I think it’s obvious the better team won and I’m glad they could finish it on their home court, so the fans in Detroit could enjoy it even more.

Basketball league one week out

Originally, the league was supposed to start this week, but it got pushed back a week thanks to some scheduling conflicts. So, that gave our team an extra chance to practice and get used to each other. Overall, I think we have a pretty solid, well-rounded team and I really enjoy playing with these guys. We’re not a selfish team and we all seem to enjoy scoring and sharing the ball, which will help us to win games. Unfortunately, we have no idea what kind of competition to expect, so we’ll have to wait till the league starts to see if we’re any good. We have yet to play a full-court game together… the first time should be interesting.

End inarticulate blabbing.