Re: Geez ...

[j.hironaka@unesco.org]

peter delevett wrote:

>  The Toronto Raptors re-signed center Michael Stewart to a six-year, $24
> million contract Tuesday, leaving the team with about $6 million in salary cap
> room to offer to Charles Oakley.
>
> The 6-foot-10 Stewart joined the Raptors in January as a free agent after
> spending his rookie season in Sacramento. He averaged only 9.4 minutes per
> game with Toronto and scored just 61 points in 42 games.

Hi Pete, I guess "Yogi" turned out to be "Boo Boo". Even after taxes, this should
leave Yogi Stewart with $16.28 in Canadian dollars plus a free national health and
dental plan. :-)

I just came back to my desk after walking with Cheryl (my wife) down to Parc
Monceau to watch that solar eclipse. Although the skies didn't darken sufficiently
to make stars visible or anything dramatic like that, it did force the city to
turn on every street lamp for 15 minutes or so. Okay getting to my point, I put on
these special paper eclipse-viewing specs and looked up with millions of other
people for signs of meaning, hope, blah, blah,. Well what we all saw was a
brilliantly illuminated letter "C" formed by the overlapping moon and sun. So
there you have it Celtics fans! Even Nostradamus is covering our back.

Incidentally, Parc Monceau is where the first parachute was invented (hence the
French-sounding word). The inventor actually hitched up his dog and dropped her
out of a hot air balloon, ears-a-flapping and all that. I think the Russians also
sent a pooch into space ahead of man. "God spelled backwards" and all that..

You know how in basketball tryouts, they say that every coach always trys to
identify one "alpha dog" scrapper/hustler type and makes sure there is a roster
sport available for him/her, even if the kid lacks basketball talent. They do this
based on anecdotal evidence that having one such player can set the tone of "team
chemistry".  Basicaly, they want to make it seem perfectly sane and second nature
to invest all your heart-and-soul into every possession and defensive series
throughout a game. The "alpha dog" provides the steady bass beat that make your
soft crooners (the players with the great natural skills) from floating through
"meaningless" games.

Not that Larry Bird needed any motivation to dive for loose balls, but ML Carr is
one guy who basically made his name in the NBA as an "alpha pooch" (no evident
talent but a major irritant and distraction to opposing teams). Other players that
come to mind are Dave Twardzik, Dan Majerle, Danny Ainge. They hate to lose. They
don't mind looking like total jerks to win.

Well I think the Celts have added two key alpha pit bulls next season in Danny and
Vitaly. Their job will be to keep Paul Pierce and Tony Battie pumped up and ready
to deliver whup-ass-cans each trip down the court. "Battleship" and "Fort" are two
24-year-old guys who are playing with monkeys on their back big enough to kidnap
Fay Ray. They both know that no matter who they outplay, the Jim Rome's, Peter
May's and Dan Issel's of the world will keep calling them "backups" because of
their height.

I'm in favor of our new motto: "One if by land (Fort), one MORE since you asked
for it, by sea (Battleship Potapenko)"  (thanks, George for that idea). I believe
it's only fair that we warn the La La Flakers well in advance of our next visit.
Poor Travis Knight will need time to settle his estate etc.. Isn't Chiquita-boy
pretty much the only Fakers power forward at the moment?? After playing the tease
to perfection, what a pity Lorenzen Wright said "arrivaderci, baby!" to Phil
Jackson.

Joe

p.s. Sorry for this post. Sorry also to "Way Ray" for my speaking of him in the
same breath with Jackie Mcmuffinface. No offense.