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Family Guy on an 18th-century divorce
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O.J. Simpson on Family Guy!
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Smiley's Sweets & Creations Blog: http://smileyssweetsandcreations.blogspot.com/
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Cute Cookies: http://www.jorymon.com/uncategorized/cute-cookies-2/
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a video game I used to love when I was a kid just came out, but not on Mac yet! :(
http://www.lucasarts.com/games/monkeyisland/
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the article that made me in-part a Los Angeles Clippers Fan:
What, Us Worry?: Management of Los Angeles Clippers, from Basketball Digest, Feb, 2001 by Jason Levin -
What's with the new attitude in Clipperdom? The new arrivals in Los Angeles are optimistic that they can nudge the woeful franchise in the right direction
WE'VE HEARD IT ALL BEFORE. The Los Angeles Clippers, the NBA's--and perhaps professional sports'--most inept franchise, have turned the corner. Management has a plan. The players are enthusiastic and committed.
So forgive us if we cast a weary eye on the latest--and umpteenth--version of the Clippers' strategy for success,
Yet, despite our apprehension, things do look different in Clipperdom. After flurry of action on draft day, the new-look Clippers suddenly have five potential stars who were born after the Three Mile Island incident. To them, the team name on the jersey doesn't mean anything. The past is just that--past. They are the future, and it's going to be bright if they have their way.
"We like it when teams think we're the `old' Clippers, because use play hard all 48 minutes, so they're in for a surprise," say Quentin Richardson, a rookie shooting guard from DePaul and one-fifth of the Clips' precocious quintet.
Richardson and the others don't care that the Clippers haven't even been in postseason contention since Larry Brown took them to the playoffs in 1993. It doesn't matter that the Clips have participated in so many Draft Lotteries that their GM, Elgin Baylor, is rumored to have a satellite office just behind the Secaucus, N.J., studio where the Ping-Pong balls are picked.
It certainly was a surprise that after the dust cleared in June, the Clippers came away not only with high school prodigy Darius Miles at the No. 3 spot and Richardson at No. 18, but they plucked the rights to Missouri point guard Keyon Dooling (No. 10 overall) and Corey Maggette from an Orlando Magic team desperate to clear salary-cap space.
The elder statesman of the four new arrivals, Maggette, just turned 21 this past November. The others don't even pack razors on road trips. And if they want to go clubbing, it's fake ID time. Even the Clippers' captain, Lamar Odom, is still wet behind the ears. Barely 21 himself, Odom, who has all of one year of NBA experience, just got his first drivers license this past summer.
With Odom already in the fold, as well as former No. I overall pick Michael Olowo (soft as cotton) kandi, Baylor hopes he's formed a nucleus that will learn and grow together under the guidance of new coach Alvin Gentry.
"All four of the new guys are very athletic and we wanted to go in that direction" says Baylor, the former Lakers great, who is on his first hot streak since becoming an executive. On the heels of his draft-day heroics, Baylor shipped pouty swingman Tyrone Nesby to Michael Jordan's Washington Wizards for Cherokee Parks in order to free up more playing time for the new faces. While it's hardly Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio, any trade that ends up even slightly in the Clippers' column in a notch in Baylor's belt.
There is a college-type camaraderie among the young Clips. "We bring out Sega games on the road and mostly just chill in our hotel rooms until it's time to go play," Dooling says. The gregarious Richardson is appreciative for the contemporary company. "It's been much easier for us than other young guys because we have each other to hang with. [It's] not like our boy DeShawn Stevenson up in Utah, where he's got nobody within five years of him on the whole team." Stevenson the 2000 drafts other high-schooler is experiencing a much different initiation to the league on the veteran-heavy Jazz.
The four newcomers make an interesting group. Long and lean, Miles is the class clown. The stocky Richardson oozes casual confidence. Loose-limbed Dooling is soft-spoken and thoughtful. The clean and cut Maggette is a workaholic.
"Corey is always the last one to leave, [he's always] working on something after practice, and he's always saying stuff like `It'll all pay off one day, you'll see,'" Dooling says.
The 6'9" Miles, a native of the mean streets of East St. Louis is as easy-going as they come, but he is quite focused when it comes to the steps he has to take to become a force in the league.
The 19-year-old rookie provided a glimpse of his singular talent in the pre-season. In a game against the Seattle SuperSonics, Miles blocked three consecutive shots by All-Star guard Gary Payton. Even more remarkably, Miles didn't say a word to the trash-talking "Glove" during the entire sequence, surprising and impressing the Sonics' leader. "The boy just played, no lip, no nothing, which you don't get a lot from the young guys now," Payton recalls. "They got a chance to be all right if these guys figure the game out, because they got plenty of skills."
Miles opened the season as a starter, but was quickly demoted. He took the change in stride. "Sometimes it's good for me to watch," he says, adding with a smile, "I'd like to play the whole game, but coach is the one they pay to decide if I'm ready."
At first, Miles appears to be almost a carbon copy of the Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Garnett, the man who began this recent spate of high-schoolers going pro. The comparison isn't lost on Miles. "KG is the man, no doubt, but I feel like I can do what he does--just not all the time, know what I mean?"
Playing time has been an issue since day one, especially with the logjam at the two and three spots created by the presence of Miles, Maggette, Richardson, and veteran gunner Eric Piatkowski. Nobody likes to sit, but each of the four has had more than one game where they played less than 10 minutes.
Maggette, who went through this frustration last year in Orlando, where at the tail end of Doc Rivers' deep rotation he only averaged 18 minutes a game, was the first to crack. After Maggette pulled a "DNP-CD" early in the season, he vented. "It's getting a little old, because even my teammates feel I should be out there," Maggette said. "But I'll keep working hard and I guess if things don't work out here, I'll have to go somewhere else to play."
His comments were especially ironic considering that while he's on the bench, nobody watches the game closer than Maggette. He's quick to offer suggestions to teammates and even the coaching staff when he sees something he believes can help the team.
"I understood where Corey was coming from," Gentry says, "but as I told everyone on day one of training camp, I'm going to play the people I feel give us the best chance to win, and that may change from game to game as we all learn more about each other."
Most young players, especially those who enter the NBA early, have trouble shooting. The Clippers' young guns are no exception, coming in as a group at around 40% from the field and not much better from the line after the first quarter of the season. "We got to work on our shots, we know that," says Richardson, who does have deep range, "and we do, every day, but games are a lot different than practice, so we just need to play."
The offensive struggles of the four newcomers often bring the Clippers' halfcourt offense to a screeching halt, forcing Odom to create/force a shot to beat the clock far more than Gentry would like. But such growing pains are to be expected. "It's not pretty to watch, I'll admit that," Gentry says. "I'm trying everything I can think of to make things easier on them, but they'll struggle for a while. As long as nobody loses their confidence, well be fine." After compiling an 88-93 record while at the helm of the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat, the 45-year-old coach is hoping the third time is the charm.
Defensively, however, the Clippers are much improved, thanks in great part to the depth and boundless energy provided by the new additions.
"Coach stressed defense from day one, and he told us if we create turnovers that's how we get in transition, so we all work hard to create those opportunities," Dooling notes.
Playing the point in the NBA means a tough matchup most every night, as Dooling found out firsthand during one particularly brutal stretch. "I had Mike Bibby, then Payton, Stephon Marbury, Payton again, and finally Jason Kidd. Every one of them does different little things too, so I learned some lessons, and hopefully I'll do a little better every time I face them from now on."
What the Clippers lack are savvy veterans that can settle the team down and impart wisdom to the new crew. Sean Rooks, Derek Strong, and Piatkowski have been around the league, but none of them have accomplished enough to get the kids' attention. The starting point guard, Jeff McInnis, is a CBA refugee just happy to be in the show. And Olowokandi and Odom are still finding their way. As a result, the kids are learning the hard way.
One recurring lesson is that rookies get no calls. "Steve Smith taught me a few tricks, grabbing me, then making it look like I was holding him, and [he] got the call," laughs Richardson. "It is frustrating because there's a lot of us [young players], so as a team we really get no calls all game."
One thing is for sure, the youngsters can run and jump with anyone. Their pregame layup line/dunkathon is of vintage ABA quality. But the real test of this group, however, will be how they deal with losing. L.A.'s second bananas figure to lose about 55 times this season, and close to 50 next year, so the road to respectability will be bumpy.
Odom clearly became worn down by all the losses late last season, and he's vowed to use that experience to help his teammates stay focused on the long term. "With these guys here now, we have a real chance to turn around this franchise, but it'll take time, so I've got to be patient and so do they," Odom says.
One sign that the young Clips are making an impact is the proliferation of headbands on kids in the Staples Center stands. The new Clippers started wearing the suddenly fashionable headbands during the preseason, and they've quickly become a hot item amongst the young fans, who, after all, play the same video games as their new heroes. It may seem insignificant, but for a franchise known for having players bring two left shoes to a game, developing a positive bond between the fans and players is a giant step in the right direction.
Baylor and Gentry are NBA lifers. Having put their careers in the hands of kids who consider the '80s ancient history, they're sailing rough waters in a ship with more holes than a Palm Beach County ballot. However, the new NBA rules dictate that, barring trades, this group will be together for a while before any of them can jump ship. They just may have ample opportunity to plug up the damage inflicted by years of mis-management and losing.
,awesome site dealing with strange and/or cool strange maps: http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/
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Family Guy's racist version of Kermit the Frog
Insult swordfighting: http://www.scummbar.com/community/games/swordfighting/index.php
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"Blue Jays rap"
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