Sad Days In the NBA

Not that the NBA would ever admit it, but this year in professional basketball is something similar to the dead-ball era of baseball.  I have been watching the games this year, but not necessarily caring the same as years past.

Those who know me would probably say, "It's because Kobe isn't playing!" immediately, but that isn't the entire case why I think this is a bad season.  Yes, Kobe Bryant is out, and that sinks for NBA fans all over, but it's more than just one big name player.  Derrick Rose is out for the second straight season.  Chris Paul is out for some time.  Russell Westbrook is out, and that is just naming a few.  Injuries are a part of sports, but certain ones are more detrimental than others.

Basketball has eras.  For the time that I have been alive there has been the Magic-Bird era, the Michael Jordan era, the Kobe-Shaq-Duncan era, the Kobe-LeBron era, and now we have arrived at the LeBron-Durant era of basketball this season.  Even though I may be, however, it is not meant to be, disrespecting other great NBA players during those time periods.  The truth is those players dominated or are dominating the court during that time period, even if they didn't win the title every year.

But as I said, we are now in the LeBron-Durant era.  With the career altering injury to his Achilles, Kobe will never be the great player he once was, especially with Father Time showing his ugly face.  Kobe is old when it comes to basketball.  I do, however, believe that if he didn't suffer his devastating injury that he would still be a great player, but that is neither here nor there.  He is done being the best player in the NBA, and I wish it wasn't so, I'm going to hope that it isn't so, but as it stands right now, it is; I will, however, hope that I am wrong.

Time moves on with or without you and time has brought us to Lebron-Durant.   With James, Wade, and Bosh the Miami Heat are taking care of business in the east and that is great for them.  Kevin Durant is doing what he can without Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder are still doing well.  James and Durant still playing in the NBA is a big deal, but it's as though, to me at least, that it doesn't matter much this year.  I can take you back to the first time Michael Jordan retired (early) and the Houston Rockets won the championship the following year, it just seemed like it wasn't earned.  Yes, they won it the following year, but in the back of people's minds there was still an asterisks there saying that it wasn't a full season for Jordan, and everybody knew that next year was going to be different, and in fact, the next three years were different.

The same mood and feelings that was then, is now.  Bryant is out and the show must go one, but how good can the show really be with Laker number 24 sidelined with injury?  I don't care about the stupid NBA player rankings, if Kobe is healthy is the best player in the NBA.  The only question that needs to be asked is, "Who would you want to have the ball at any point during the game?" The answer to that is Kobe.  And it has been for a decade and was last year, but it's not this year because he isn't healthy.  And that is a big reason this season doesn't feel right to me, because of Kobe and the other stars being out.

However, just like with any era there are other stars. Stephen Curry is great.  Do I think he will rise to the top? No, but he is still one of the best.  Damian Lillard is proving himself.  But even in this lachrymosity I do see a silver lining and a different 24 to cheer for and his name is Paul George.  He is a great basketball player.  He's going to be special.  I thought I was going to see a little bit more from his this year individually, but his team is still doing great.  I'm going to wait patiently for him.  Whenever Kobe decides to hang it up for good it will be a sad day for basketball.  It may be soon, it may be later, but when that day comes, Mr. Paul George will become my favorite player in the NBA, because that young man has some game in him.

Mr Felder

     

I love Sugar

The most important step to solving any problem is admitting you have a problem; I have a problem.  I am addicted to sugar.  I looked it up, and it is a thing.  No, I'm not at the point where sugar is taking over my life and I'm losing friends because of it, but I definitely have more of it than I should.

Yesterday, I promised myself that I was going to refrain from sweets, in particular coffee rolls and doughnuts from Dunkin Dounuts.  What happened today? The second DD that I passed I walked in and bought myself a coffee roll and enjoyed the hell out of it.  They are soooo good!  Recently, DD has been a problem for me.  I found out that in late evenings that doughnuts are buy one get one free.  Why would they do such a thing?

Therefore, for the last couple of weeks I have been on a binge.  Coffee roll, red velvet (no even fair to make that a doughnut), chocolate frosted, and others I have been devouring with no regard.  To under estimate, I consumed 18 of those in one week.  At least twice last week I ate four in one day, and I didn't lessen my regular eating either; the massive amount of rice and meat was still there.  What did this terrible diet do to me? I lost almost three pounds.  I weighted in at 182.5 lbs.  Not bad considering, but my body fat has gone up to almost 9%.  The sugar blast my body endured could have hurt my muscles, but I'm not sure.  It had been a while since the last time I checked my body fat.

America doesn't make it easy on people.  The food that is terrible for you is readily available and cheaper than healthier options.  For instance, a 6 oz bag of spinach cost $2.99, which equates to $8 a pound.  All most every type of chicken meat and pork, and most beef is less than that per pound.  Mind you, honeybuns which I love are 4 oz and only 50 cents, which means a pound of honeybuns is only $2 dollar; and under no circumstance should you consume a pound of honeybuns in a day; doing so would probably be your worst decision of the day.

By now, we should all know that most fast-food chains make terrible food and sell it for a cheap amount.  Grocery stores for the most part are not downtown in a city (Boston does have a Trader Joe's on Boylston Street which rocks).  They are not accessible like fast food restaurants, so while bananas and some other fruits are 99 cents a pound at grocery stores, when out and about, they are 99 cents per or more.  And people might say, bring your lunch or food with you, but face facts.  In a society where our cell phones are almost as thin as our teeth, the only thing people want to carry is a skinny laptop bag to work, therefore, carrying a lunch bag in addition is not going to happen for the masses; fast-food places know this.

I am hopeful that one day there will be a fast-food place that sells healthy food at a cheap price.  Subway was suppose to be that chain, but that didn't last.  It is JanuANY which great, but a place that sells apple, banana, and peanuts for 50 cents would be great, and more choices too.  I'm not saying that this would make me give up the coffee rolls, but I might be able to substitute a few of them out for some natural sugar.


Mr. Felder