John's Web Log

NBA Summer league

2008-07-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

So last week the NBA Summer League was here in Las Vegas all week. I went down to a couple of games to check out the supposed future stars of the NBA, and also to watch Jaycee Carroll (greatest player in Aggie history) in his attempt to make it in the NBA.

The games were kind of fun to watch, but mostly it was just a bunch of big tall dudes that I didn't recognize playing non-team-oriented hoops. So in retrospect, it wasn't that great of a time at all. But the nachos were good.

During one of the games, the promotional people picked me at random out of the crowd to shoot baskets. I agreed to it because the winning prize was a copy of EA Sports NBA Live 2008, which I thought might be fun to play on my Wii. So, I reluctantly agreed. When halftime neared and they brought me down to the baseline behind one of the hoops, I was surprised to see that my competition was what appeared to be about a 12-year-old kid. Here is the photo of the contestants at the EA Sports halftime shootout:

Now, when I saw my competition was a little kid, my first thought was "oh great, I am going to look like a jerk beating up on this little kid to win a prize." Those misgivings were quickly put to rest when I got out on the court and realized I had not shot a basket in well over 6 months. We had 1 minute to make as many shots as we could from a spot placed on the court about half way up the edge of the foul lane. In other words, it was a pretty simple little shot. As I took my first shot, the ball seemed a few pounds heavier than I remember a basketball being. Suddenly, the rim seemed higher. I short armed my first couple of shots pretty badly, and in the meantime I heard them announce that my opponent had already hit "1...2....3 !!! It looks like youth is winning this battle of old vs. young!!"

As my shame began to mount, I reeled off another 4 or 5 near airballs and tried harder to focus on jumping and following through on the shot. I started trying to swish them instead of banking them, which only made matters worse. I then heared a loud "YOU SUCK DUDE!!!" come from the crowd. My ego was wilting. The time was ticking...it was announced that only 30 seconds were left and that the "old guy" better get it going. It was then that I started to get in the zone and reeled off a few made shots in a row. But it was not enough. The final tally was 7 made shots for me, and ......(wait for it)...... 23 made by the kid!! It was terrible to feel the shame and humiliation of getting destroyed by a little kid in front of a couple of thousand people (including countless NBA scouts and general managers, by the way. This was my one chance to showcase my skills for them and I squandered it!!). I have to give the kid credit, because to make 23 shots in 1 minute is pretty amazing. I don't know how many he missed, but that is a lot of shots to make in that time. But that is definitely the last time I will voluntarily submit myself to such public disgrace.

Summer TV

2008-07-12T12:18:00.001-07:00

Okay, I realize this is really lame because it is probably the subject of about 784,289 different blogs right now. But there is never anything worth watching on TV in the summer. This is really fine by me, because usually I have a lot better things to do than watch TV (such as playing Nintendo Wii).

But the point of my post here is to elicit ideas from anyone who happens to see this. What TV shows have you watched this summer? Are there any good ones out there that I don't know about, which are worth watching? And don't say "you should read a book," because that is lame. All I do is read stuff all day and when I am home at night I want to relax and watch a movie or TV or something.

You Tube is great

2008-07-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

YouTube is one of the great inventions of the modern day. Just thought I'd share a few of my favorite YouTube videos:

Flight of the Conchords. These guys are hilarious. Rent the DVDs if you haven't already seen them.

Japanese Mob Pranks!

Jaycee Carroll is awesome: 10 Threes in one game, 44 points in another game.

Utah State (basketball) is the best: Buzzer beater vs. Utah

Don't Taze Me, Bro! and the "Don't Taze Me, Bro!" Remix. (If you click on one link in this post, this should be it!)

Proof that the 80s really did suck.

I heart futbol

2008-06-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

Unlike the average American sports fan, I really love international soccer. Or, as 99% of the world would call it, football. I'm not quite sure why Americans started calling the sport played by NFL teams "football." An entire NFL game could be played with only just a few uses of the foot to kick the ball (which is actually not even a sphere - hence can it even be called a "ball"?). I think the whole idea of American football was part of Americans' general desire to thumb their collective nose at England and the rest of the world (kind of like the way they discarded the metric system and took the "u" out of words like colour and behaviour). We do stuff our own way, even it if makes no sense. That's just the way we roll over here in the US of A.

Anyway, yesterday I watched the championship of the Euro 2008. The final was an exciting match between Spain and Germany, with the Spanish earning a hard fought victory for their first Euro championship since 1964. Spain was impressive throughout the tournament, going undefeated and knocking out World Cup champions Italy along the way.

Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo (pictured below with his weird European mini-mullet) were on a roll at the Euros until they got hammered by Germany in the quarter finals.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy (below, and also heading in a goal at top of post) and Holland also put on quite a show for their orange-clad countrymen in the opening rounds, only to be ousted by Russia in the quarterfinal as well.

If you don't like football, er.... soccer, and didn't see any of Euro 2008, you missed out on a thrilling competition. There were several incredible games, with many last second goals to win games in dramtic fashion. Watching the Euro games made me all the more excited about the World Cup, coming up in 2010 from South Africa. Since these major championships only happen once every four years, and since the teams represent an entire nation's hopes and dreams being placed on the line, it makes for some of the most compelling and dramatic sports competitions in the world.

Welcome to the Web Log de Juan, a.k.a. John's Web Log.

2008-06-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

Admit it, you had forgotten where the word "blog" even came from. Well, it is short for "web log." According to the cyber-dictionary, a web log is "an online diary used by an author to share information on a particular subject at regular intervals." Since the URL "johnsweblog.blogspot.com" was already taken, the Spanish equivalent, "weblogdejuan," will have to suffice. As the name would suggest, this website will serve as my new online journal, where I will share information on particular subjects at regular intervals. Stay tuned....