***~~~~Sports Spectacular ~~~~***

New York, NY. It's known as "The Mecca of Basket Ball", what for its numerous outdoor public courts, long history of skilled players that have come up in NY, and of course the very enthusiastic basket ball fan base. That said, for as long as I've been alive, the New York Knickerbockers have either sucked, or in times gone by, were the underdogs that would put up a good fight, but inevitably fail. Today, the Knicks are a painful topic in New York. I would estimate this team has been excrement at least the past 5 years. Poor management, jaded players, foolish coaching staff, you name it. Allen Houston has not been suited up to play a game in years, and he is still being paid millions while he sits in a mansion somewhere playing Playstation (Probably not a sports game either).

All this said/vented, when I was offered a ticket to the "Knicks game" last night, naturally my first question was "Who are they playing?". Perhaps there might be a good team in town, at least that way I can see SOME professional ball. As it turns out, the Knicks were scheduled to play the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have become something of a dynasty in the post-Jordan era, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker bringing home some 2 or 3 championships before the Celtics stole it last year. So I decided to go, just to see the Spurs murder the Knicks over 4 periods.

What still feels uncomfortable coming out of my mouth today, are the words " The Knicks won". Strangely, its the truth. Somehow, a little man of 5'8" or so managed to score 34 points on 3-pointers, driving to the basket, and making breakaway layups. Young Mr. Nate Robinson, fresh off winning a dunk contest over an opponent more than one foot taller than him, somehow summed up what might be the best performance of his career. Shocking~

So what have I learned? Should I never count out the home team? Should I have more faith in the underdogs? No, no, no. The Knicks still suck. Lets not go crazy. I've learned than the best victories come from the worst teams in the league =)

Not like it used to be ...

I am so saddened to find myself exclaiming, things are ' not like they used to be '. At time present I am but 24 years old, and all observable indicators suggest my best times are all behind me. I have a great treasure trove of wonderful memories crafted out there in the world. I cling to them with claws of nostalgia, ever saddened they have passed but reminded to be grateful they ever came to pass.
Traveling alone for long periods of time, initial moments of brief insanity eventually morph and one is loured into philosophic rumination. Maybe its being surrounded by things unfamiliar and feeling unable to make the alien seem more intimate? regardless, the result in my experience is an almost meditative state, wherein questions of meaning and purpose become unavoidable. Its not a place of thought you enter int0 voluntarily, or initially travel in hopes to rekindle. It will find you, true to itself as it is, it will find you when you're there.
Now this very idea I just described is close to impossible from my work desk. Suit and tied up, creativity is suffocated at the collar. Drone monotony is the story of every day. Time passes slowly in the present, seems to have passed very quickly when mentioning the past, and seems like forever for the future. So how do we escape this poor state? Thats the resounding question to mark the place I have reached in my life. HOW DO I ESCAPE ?

Wisdom of the Hagakure

A drop from knowledge pond HAGAKURE, to my blogspot to get us started :


"There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything."

- Hagakure