2010-2011 Milwaukee Bucks: 2nd Round of the Playoffs Bound

Here are my thoughts on John Hammond and the moves he's made (so far) to favorite professional sports team ever. First off, my depth chart:

PG: Jennings
SG: Salmons, Douglas-Roberts
SF: Mbah A Moute, Maggette, Delfino
PF: Ilyaova, Sanders, Gallon
C: Bogut, Gooden

****note****
They will pick up another PG soon.
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So, you may have noticed Michael Redd is not listed. That's because he'll be gone soon enough. A lot of people say the Bucks lack shooters, and yes that's true. But jump shooting teams won't win a championship. Maggette adds a serious top tier take it to the hoop threat. No longer will we as fans see in the box score that the opponent reached the line 25 times and the Bucks only 10 times. Although it seems Maggette will come off the bench now that Salmons resigned, the Bucks will have a serious scorer as a sixth man. If they need to score, simply adjust the lineup by adding Maggette in at SF and put Mbah a Moute on the bench.

The Bucks got longer and faster. That's just a fact. Sanders can run the floor with Jennings and Salmons, so expect a little more fast break offense this coming season.

If Bogut heals properly and manages to stay healthy, we have a legitimate 1st and 2nd center (Bogut and Gooden) unlike the Bucks have had since I can remember. Gooden is a tough dude. Yeah, he's not the biggest man, and yeah, he sported the worst hair cut ever with that stupid patch on the back of his head. But, he's not gonna let anyone push him around in the low post. Remember the playoffs last season when Kurt Thomas was just too slow to man up with Horford? That won't be a problem anymore. No more counting on someone who should be sitting back in a lawn chair playing Croquet.

Douglas-Roberts is a young player. I think he's 25 or 26. He's not the best shooter in the game, but like Maggette, he's super athletic and takes in to the hole. Not much unlike Stackhouse used to be in his prime. Both CDR and Maggette have been criticized for work ethic, locker room attitude, and defensive skills. Keep in mind, they came from horrible teams. Golden State doesn't play defense, period. The Nets were just plain awful. Now that they are in Milwaukee playing under Coach Skiles who is not afraid to sit a player for lack of effort (ie: Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings last season) I really don't think they will be liabilities defensively all season. It's plain and simple, play defense in Milwaukee or don't play at all. These guys are great additions. With them and our core group of young, developing players (Ilyasova, Mbah a Moute, and Jennings mainly) I honestly believe the Bucks will be anywhere from a 2 seed to a 5 seed. Most likely a 3 or 4 though. That means home court advantage in the playoffs and an advancement to the 2nd round for the first time since 2001. That's right, FEAR THE DEER! :D

It's been a long while...

So, what's important right now??? Hmmmm............

1) I ran over a baby rabbit with a lawn mower. It was a horrible event in my young life. I won't get into details, but I will say it ruined my day/week.

2) 2 sets of twins have brightened my life. My brother and sister-in-law created Kylee and Dominic and my best friend, Erik and Carolina, created identical twin boys, Oliver and Sebastian.

3) I'm still gardening, barely. We'll see how that pans out.

4) I shaved my head and beard completely, but it's growing back so I'll soon look like Cat Stevens again.

5) There's a new, wonderful person in my life. :)

6) And finally, it's June 26th again. Happy Birthday Josh. Miss you pal. Weird that it's been over 6 years.

That's all I have. I need to go back to bed. Goodnight everybody. I'm back to blogging, so expect more soon.

- Angelo

Squirrels have feelings too...

...So today, I was driving home from 27th and Oklahoma. I turned onto Logan Street and was approaching a 4 way stop intersection. As I was slowing down, I noticed a squirrel in the middle of street sniffing around at something. As I approached the squirrel, he/she darted off to the side of road. I drove my truck past the object of the squirrel's attention to see that it was a freshly killed squirrel. I drove away slowly and looked in my rearview mirror and noticed that the squirrel ran back into the middle of street and just sat there by his/her dead squirrel buddy's body.

This gets me thinking. Do squirrels mourn the loss of loved ones like us humans do? I like to believe they do. Not sure why, but I really felt bad for the poor squirrel. We drive around like maniacs on the streets, acting like human life is the only important life out there.

The next time you are driving around, be mindful of the squirrels running around doing there thing. They have just as much of a right to be here as we do. RIP little buddy.

"The Winter O-lame-pics": Total Waste Of Time!

Most people won't agree with me on this take, but I really don't care. I have a problem with the Winter Olympics. So many of these events are so obscure that I don't know of a single person that has ever even attempted these feats. Here are some of the events in question:

1. Biathlon: This is an event that involves cross country skiing and rifle shooting. Competitors are required to engage in a rather grueling cross country race. When they reach the shooting range they then must drop their poles and take five shots at a metal target 50 meters away. The first one to cross the finish line wins, but shooting accuracy always factors in depending on the specific subtype of this event being engaged in.

2. Bobsleigh: Bobsledding involves racing against competitors in bobsleds downhill on ice.

3. Curling: The 2010 Winter Olympics will hold two events in curling- a women's and men's tournament. Each of these tournaments starts with 10 curling teams with two playing against one another at a time. While playing on ice, teams take turns pushing 19.1-kilogram stones towards a set of rings or circles. The object is to get the stones as close to the exact center of these rings as you can.

4. Ice Sledge Hockey: This is like normal ice hockey except that players sit on aluminum or steel sledges fitted with two blades instead of skates. Further, they play with two double-ended sticks, one in each hand. One end of the stick is used to move the sledge, while the other is used to manipulate the puck. Just like normal ice hockey, competitors attempt to score goals against the other team's goaltender.

5. Luge: In this event, racers travel on fiberglass sleds that are initially compelled by pulling on fixed handles on the ice. Later they use spiked gloves on the surface for further acceleration. There are singles and doubles events in this sport. It is a competition conducted in heats.

6. Skeleton: Competitors race in this event on fiberglass and metal sleds that look somewhat like a skeleton. Men's and women's individual events will take place in Vancouver in 2010.


*** Ok, what do cross-country skiing and rifle shooting have to do with each other? What the hell is Ice Sledge Hockey? And furthermore, what's wrong with normal Ice Hockey? In Skeleton, you race on sleds that look like skeletons...WTF? Luge and Bombsleigh seem similar, but can you name 1 person who has ever attempted either of those 2 sports? And Curling...come on, who are we kidding? It's not a sport. Just wait, in 2012 they will include Poker in the Summer Olympics. What a crock. Do these people really deserve gold, silver, and bronze metals for being the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd best in the world out of maybe 10,000 total athletes attempting these "sports"? I'd rather watch "Everybody Loves Raymond", and that's the worst show on television.

Oh well, that's my take and I'm sticking to it.

My alien/devil dream last night...

I usually have very odd dreams, most of them involve me in dangerous situations usually serving as the bad guy or villain. Last night I had one of the coolest dreams ever though. It was super frightening but that's totally up my alley. I'll try to explain it:

It started out with me lying in bed having weird leg twitches. My brother and father were there. Everything seemed pretty normal. I thought I was just lacking potassium or something. But then eventually the twitches grew stronger and something seemed to be moving around inside of my upper thigh. As this progressed, I realized something was going terribly wrong. Moments later, my leg ripped open and this weird, slimy, devil-creature crawled out and subsequently caused havoc all over the neighborhood. During the pandemonium, my brother was running away and this creature went to hunt him down, knocking him down some riverbank into the path of a boat of some sort. And I ran to help him only to find his legs were gone and it was pretty much a bloody mess. The rest of the dream is kinda a blur, but I remember waking up thinking, 'Man, who needs to rent horror movies when you can create them in your dreams?' I love sleeping. :) But then again, maybe this is not helping my anxiety issues...hmmm....

My 2010 spirit animal...Blue Heron

As some of you may know, I'm an avid user of Native American Medicine Cards. I find them helpful in examining parts of yourself that you either choose to keep in your shadow or are not aware of at all. So, today, January 1st, 2010, I decided to pick a card and deem it my 2010 spirit animal. Here it is, Blue Heron.

BLUE HERON

Heron medicine is the power of knowing the self by discovering its gifts and facing its challenges. It is the ability to accept all feelings and opinions without denying any emotion or thought. Heron flies over those who are unaware of who they are and where they belong in the world. Gently dropping a blue feather to them, Heron asks that they follow their intuition and begin the empowering journey of self-realization.

If the great Blue Heron has flown into your cards today, it is urging you to dive into the watery world of feelings to seek your truth. Heron teaches you to develop your self-reflective skills so that you may come to know yourself in an intimate way. Looking at yourself through the filmy lens of self-importance, the cloudy perceptions of low self-worth, or the myopic eyes of self-pity, you will never understand your true potential or appreciate the opportunities that appear.

Heron asks that you examine yourself with a cold eye to see what you wish to improve and how you want to change. If you get stuck in the process, it may be a sign that you are being too hard or critical. Choosing to blame others and constantly pointing a finger at life's situations, instead of claiming responsibility for your actions, shows that you lack the courage to face the enemy within.

Heron medicine people are willing to look at themselves and see the truth of their motives, actions, feelings, dreams, goals, inner strengths, and inner weaknesses. In balancing those truths, Heron's medicine shows you how to meet the challenges of your personal weaknesses and how to continue developing the skills that lead to inner strength and certainty of purpose.

Are you willing to dive into the watery depths of your own feelings and discover the role of your spiritual essence? Heron is now calling you to delve deeper, to know yourself, and to trust your path. Like the Phoenix, who rises from its own ashes, Heron emerges from the unseen worlds of spirit into a new balanced sense-of-self in order to embrace its potential again and again.

The magnificence of your human spirit lies waiting for the joy of discovery, if you are courageous enough to follow the Waterbird throughout the journey. Heron reminds you that every traveler on life's journey is a messenger, and that every destination is the beginning of a new life cycle on the Medicine Wheel.

A Little Photo Tribute To My Best Buddy

Josh Bouzard (6/26/79-12/29/03)

In the early hours of December 29th, 2003, my best friend Josh Bouzard passed away. He fell asleep with a cigarette in hand, which subsequently started our apartment on fire and he never made it out. Unfortunately you never really realize how much someone means to you until they are gone. I realize that now, and all the positive memories of days past keep a smile on my face. Not only was Josh a fantastic guitar player and artist, he was the truest of friends, more of a brother than a friend actually. I'll never meet anyone like him again in my lifetime. So here's to you pal!





























...and the last photo ever taken of Josh.



...and a video tribute produced by Jourdain LaFrombois and David White, "Full Purchase"