Gift of Life (Bone Marrow) Request & EZ Reads 3/8/11

Just a few pieces for a slow Tuesday, and one important request:

The 1-year old daughter of Hindy Poupko and Seth Galena (of Bangitout I believe), Ayelet Yakira Galena, was recently diagnosed with a rare bone marrow failure disorder and will need a bone marrow transplant. Gift of Life is an incredible organization which does simple cheek swabs (essentially a Q-tip in your mouth for a few seconds) and keeps a record of your bone marrow on file, so if you're ever a match for someone who needs it they'll know. I did a swab 10 years ago, and it was the easiest way to potentially help save someone's life - and you never need to do a swab again. From one of the e-mails I received:

Here are some ways you can help us out:

1. You and everyone you know can get your cheeks swabbed at the bone marrow and sent it to the gift of life here is the direct link https://www.giftoflife.org/Public/Online/Donor/Guidelines.aspx

2. If you think you are already in the registry, double check here: https://www.giftoflife.org/Public/quickcheck/default.aspx

3. Currently, Gift of Life (the Jewish bone marrow registry) does not have the funds to process all of the new registrants (each test costs $54) so consider donating to Gift of Life through our dedicated donors circle at: http://www.giftoflife.org/dc/Ayelet-Galena/blog.aspx. If you cannot afford it I am personally working on getting sponsors.

4. If you banked your child's cord blood and would consider donating it in the event that it is match - please be in touch with us

5. Forward this email to everyone you know.

6. Upcoming drives:

March 7th, 2:00-7:00pm, New York Region of Hadassah
5 West 58th Street, NY, NY 10019

March 19th and March 20th, 8:30-11:00 PM, The Jewish Center
131 W. 86th St., New York, NY

Thank you for your time and help, Hindy Poupko and Seth Galena

Elsewhere:

• A fantastic article in the NY Times called The Tire Iron and the Tamale, via Rafi, on a man who has been stranded three times on the side of the road in the past year, and the people who came to help him out. Excerpts:
  

  Each time, when these things happened, I was disgusted with the way people didn’t bother to help. [...] But you know who came to my rescue all three times? Immigrants. Mexican immigrants. None of them spoke any English. [...]
  
  His wife produced a large water jug for us to wash our hands in. I tried to put a 20 in the man’s hand, but he wouldn’t take it, so instead I went up to the van and gave it to his wife as quietly as I could. [...] After I said my goodbyes and started walking back to the Jeep, the girl called out and asked if I’d had lunch. When I told her no, she ran up and handed me a tamale.
  
  This family, undoubtedly poorer than just about everyone else on that stretch of highway, working on a seasonal basis where time is money, took a couple of hours out of their day to help a strange guy on the side of the road while people in tow trucks were just passing him by.
  
  But we weren’t done yet. I thanked them again and walked back to my car and opened the foil on the tamale (I was starving by this point), and what did I find inside? My $20 bill! I whirled around and ran to the van and the guy rolled down his window. He saw the $20 in my hand and just started shaking his head no. All I could think to say was, “Por favor, por favor, por favor,” with my hands out. The guy just smiled and, with what looked like great concentration, said in English: “Today you, tomorrow me.”

• Waiting For Next Year has a great piece on the NFL labor dispute, saying "Don't Pick Sides" in the Plain Dealer, then continuing on the blog.
• The Times has a fun piece on Cleveland envy among Knicks fans. That's what happens when 25% of the lowly Cavs' wins are against the same team.
  

Enjoy!

EZ Reads 2/23/11

Some cool enjoyable stories for today: (Sorry but I can't remember all the hat tips...)

• A great piece on Waiting for Next Year (my favorite Cleveland sports blog) on how to teach his son that Life Isn't Fair. I've got(ten) some great lessons myself... v'hamaven yavin.
• Mind vs. Machine. Really cool bit by a writer who took part in the annual Humans vs. Computers challenge, where computers and humans do their best to convince judges which of them is really human in 5-minute IM conversations. (The Atlantic)
• A Domino's delivery person saved an 82-year old woman's life after the woman didn't call in her daily order. (Deadspin)
• Really slick video from the NBA from the dunk contest, in super slow motion with some nice music. (Deadspin)
• Are you smarter than an 8th grader... from 1895? I'm not. (Freakonomics)

EZ Reads 6/28/09: Commentary

Happy Birthday SIL! After an adventurous weekend (to be continued), it's nice to sit and not be driving.

There are a lot of really great pieces out there and plenty to say on each, so here we go:

• First, the funny: Bad4 retells some horrible guy actions on dates, like discussing date rape on date number one, questioning stopping at stop signs within 5 minutes of meeting the girl, or spitting at someone - then running to a cop when the guy turns around. If you're a guy, are you not appalled? Are there girls who are just as bad? What's so hard about acting like a gentleman?
• Chana has the Miriam Webster Shidduchtionary (an excerpt from Perel Grossman's Adventures in the Produce Aisle and other 'Perelous' Tales), which is overall funny and has some really great lines. Some of the definitions are remarkably accurate: "Bright: always had a lot of potential throughout high school, no achievement, just potential" and "Interesting: weird".
• Rebecca Honig Friedman writes at The Jewish Channel about the R' Elyashiv instruction for men to marry closer in age or even older women than themselves, and the comments ask why men are reluctant to do so. In a follow up at Jewess, a couple men said it's because older singles are "bitter about not being married yet"; from the many 'older single women' we know, I would venture that that's not the case, but they are often extremely unimpressed at the males available to them. We actually have a number of friends where the girl is older than the guy, and we've had people want to set up girls we know only to hear that they're older - and they express the frustration in knowing that their friends will simply not date older women regardless of how good of an idea it is.
  
• Now for the cool: A little about the Israeli taken in the first round of the NBA draft.
• Via A Bit of Light, a really interesting clip about a ba'alas teshuva musician/artist.
  
• So the Aron might be in... Ethiopia?
• Josh at ParshaBlog discusses the Chazon Ish piece (mentioned on Friday), and thinks it's quite important how the Chazon Ish knew what he did about urology. My bet: He made use of the books that weren't far away.
• So... now $300,000+ in NY/NJ doesn't leave you with much savings or charity. Ouch.
• Iiiinteresting: Chief Sephardic Rabbi Amar has banned R' Abraham Sherman from having anything to do with geirus, after his nullifications of conversions by R' Druckman. Honestly Frum thinks this is tremendous.
• Finally, Chana gives her Guide to Judaism, which is certainly an interesting perspective.
  

LeBron vs. Kobe Muppets, Part IV: Mrs. Lewis

(Via WFNY) Now this is hilarious. :)

AAAAUUGGHHHH!!!

V'Hamayvin Yavin.

Wow

I can't decide which of these describes the moment best. The moment, slowed down in blown up high definition; the moment, in real-time; or the moment, as a true Cleveland fan would feel it [in the guise of the Channel 5 Newsteam], from the negativity and despair of hopelessness to the shock, excitement, and joy of redemption.

I'm showing the real-time one, but the others are great, too.

8 Down, 8 To Go

As the Cavs keep rolling, a few good and fun pieces and videos to watch courtesy of a few, especially Mom. First, muppets LeBron and Kobe:

Good thing he decided against football, at least for now. Finally, I wish they had one of these from the entire series, but then again, considering this isn't even all his highlights just from Game 3, I guess it would be too long:

Digging for Gold

Something For Everyone

For those who love the kids:
For those who love sports:

And for those who actually come for the blog:

EZ Reads, 4/1

I'm shutting down SerandEz after today.* It's been a nice ride, these almost 4 years, but I think it's about time. Elsewhere today:

• ProfK discusses "minhagim" about Pesach and their origins. Really funny while making great points.
• Interesting piece about a Jewish lawyer who somehow ended up training NBA stars.
• Facebook helps a family split during the Holocaust reunite.
• R' Horowitz reprints a letter on Tough Times.
• A beautiful shot via DealBreaker of the media's wonderful coverage of news. The press never impacts the news through their coverage, they only report what is happening. Right.
• Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes is pressing a new crackdown on sexual abuse in the Orthodox community. Yiasher Kochacho.

* April Fool's. Duh.

Bring Out Your Dead

+2 if you know the next line!

It's been a busy week, what with Purim and all. On Motzei Shabbos, I'll be assisting in running the third annual WITS Alumni 2-on-2 Tournament (Marty Madness 2.0, as former NBA player Marty Conlon is joining up again this year) at Chofetz Chaim in Kew Gardens Hills, as the alumni director Jay had a baby this week and can't fly in for it. The video from last year's is here.

Hopefully it'll be fun and go off without any hitches.

Best part is that sometime after that, and before 11am the next morning, I have to prepare for my fantasy baseball draft. I only just last night was able to start analyzing anything and figure out who I want at #3... A-Rod not being in the draft stinks, as it's unlikely Hanley Ramirez will be there for me to take. As of now I'm thinking that Ramirez and Pujols will be 1-2, which means I can choose from Wright, Utley, Reyes, or someone else. I don't want Reyes, and Utley's hip is enough of a concern coupled with plenty of 2B depth all around that Wright is my likely pick, though Sizemore, Manny, and Braun are enticing. Hard to justify taking an OF there, though.

I have a feeling that a lot of good pitchers will be undervalued in the draft, and I'm typically a fan of guys who have multiple positions because of the added flexibility it gives me. If Braun had 3B eligibility, I'd probably lean toward him. Of course, as Rea knows, the guy with the #1 pick loves Braun and might just take him, which would leave me Hanley or Pujols. That would be amazing.

Have a great Shabbos!

EZ Reads, 3/2/09

Following are links to two of the best posts I've read in a while.

YD writes a beautiful piece utilizing a point from Parshas Terumah, explaining how logic does not necessarily progress to eternity:

The first step is for a person to be honest with himself or herself.

This, I believe, is a large part of the flipping-out phenomenon. Kids are being inspired to take their religion more seriously (which is a great thing), but are not given the tools to make decisions within gray areas. Therefore, many of them shift to the extreme because that's the only thing they can logically formulate. They need to be taught to take the emotional aspect, the lev, into account as well, both in terms of mental health and persistence

In a discussion I found rather related, Moshe related a story from his entrance interview to medical school, where a (Jewish) professor challenged his religious views, bashing them. He then expounds on how he thinks and acts:

The difficulty and frustration this presents is that I often demand this same process from those who are closest to me, my friends and family. I expect them to think before they act, to understand what they are doing, to appreciate their practices, and to recognize that actions without thought are pointless. I find myself frustrated and upset when people (especially family and friends) act without reason. If someone has thought about a topic and comes to a different conclusion, that is fine. However, it hurts me when they act without thinking or say and do certain things without understanding “the why.”

Elsewhere:

• The Wall Street Journal and Wolf (twice) discuss The Event, last night's concert at Madison Square Garden starring Lipa Shmeltzer - which was canceled last year due to hubbub and meddling by kannoim. LoR links to pictures and video from the concert.
• On a somewhat related note, ADDeRabbi with a line on the role of a Rav. Perfectly put.
• A rather brilliant analysis of defense and how the Rockets shut down Lebron last week. (Also shows just how good he is in general.)
• (HT: Josh) A great Calvin & Hobbes that is apropos for the current economic mess.
• MiI and Hirhurim discuss R' Ovadia Yosef's psak that women can read megillah for men if no men are able to.
• A cute article on using Faceboook to move up the social ladder. It's like having people vouch for you without them having to do so.
  

Enjoy!

Ezzie's Blog Roundup, 2/18

Some pieces to make you feel on this fine Wednesday morning...

• Pearl talks about her recent vacation to Buffalo... and just how different a tragic news story is up close.
• Parshablog on what happens when you make up a quote for fun.
• A great story on a shidduch made by a deceased soldier from Treppenwitz and Chabad.
• My mom sent over this great piece on what is viewed in Cleveland as a specialty - chocolate coconut bars. You won't find them in any other kosher bakeries, typically, and people will often buy them when they're in Cleveland. Except the specialty is Australian, apparently, and is called Speckled Lamington.
• A few other posts that I meant to put up recently... Ariella has something you can do this week for free in New York. (What, it's only Wednesday!)
• An amazing piece on a new way of approaching NBA players and their impact on the court, starting with Shane Battier. Think Moneyball hits PER that you can't see.
• JoeSettler links to a piece about a new discovery (in Israel, of course) that can find cancer at extremely early stages, and figure out what kind - just by sniffing people. Obviously, the more this is developed the more amazing the impact will be.
• I enjoyed this piece by NMF#7 on chesed and neighbors.
• Finally, an interesting short piece on just how Godly people are in the US, even if they aren't religious. (Thanks Mom)
  

Enjoy!

The Quiet King

I have to get this part out first: There's no right way to say this, but... Lebron James didn't even play that well tonight. The King went off for 52 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds in a 107-102 victory by the Cleveland Cavaliers over the New York Knicks - and he could have done much, much better (as could have the Cavs). Does anyone realize how scary that is?

From my decent seats in Section 320, I spent the night alternating between oohing and aahing like the rest of Madison Square Garden, and muttering about the poor shot selection and ball movement of the Cavs, especially Lebron - and so did all the people around me, most of whom were Cavs fans. [Interestingly, I'd say there were a few thousand Cavs fans in the Garden tonight - enough that you really heard it when the Cavs were hitting shots, and I don't mean Lebron.]

Part of what is so fascinating about Lebron James is that he doesn't force shots in the typical sense, which makes it difficult to criticize him when he misses shots. Anyone looking at the particular shot would argue that the clock was winding down, nobody else was really open, and he got it off cleanly; and all of those would be true. When teams play tighter defense or double-team Lebron, he almost always swings it to the open man for a clean shot - and that's how he had 11 assists, with a few more blown on a missed Ben Wallace dunk or a couple wide open threes that didn't fall.

But when you sit there watching the game, you wonder why a player who moves so well without the ball in his hands is so rarely deferring to one of his (talented) point guards to start the set. Yes, there are times where he does this, often leading to a great look for him or a good open look for someone else, while keeping the rest of the team moving and involved. But much of the time, he's clearly taking the initiative and starting with the ball on the wing or at the top of the key, spending a good 8-12 seconds gauging where he can attack the player defending him by using a number of foot stabs to test the player's reactions (and those of his teammates coming to help). It is most similar to a quarterback calling out signals and sending players in motion to see if they can figure out how best to attack the defense, except just like when the QB too often gets stuck with a choice they don't like because the play clock has run down, Lebron is forced to take a long jumper because he wouldn't have enough time to drive and either shoot or kick and let the ball swing around to the open man. As Lebron gets more and more comfortable driving and forcing defenses to react to him consistently, or better, deferring to the guards to open up space for him, he will become an even greater force - and that's just scary.

(I can't believe I just spent three paragraphs criticizing one of the more incredible individual performances a person will ever see.)

All that said: Tonight's performance by Lebron James was one of the most incredible things I've ever witnessed (no pun intended). Yes, I happened to be surrounded by many Cavs fans, and yes, people often ooh and aah at amazing performances of opposing superstars. Sure, people cheered Kobe two nights ago. But this was something different. A couple of months ago, when Lebron last visited the Garden, amidst much greater 2010 hype, the place was electric about Lebron, going crazy every time he touched the ball and openly cheering when he made a great play. This time, the crowd was much less interested in wooing Lebron, and as it was a very close game, they were rooting hard for the Knicks. The Garden was actually pretty loud when the Knicks fought back and took the lead. But every time the arena would start to rock, Lebron would do something that would not just quiet the crowd as so often happens when a run is stopped. He'd electrify the crowd into being quiet. You'd hear screaming after another Al Harrington make followed by booming chants of "DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE" followed by an audible "ohmygoshWOOOOW" - and then silence. Just to finish it off, you've never seen a place get so excited when a player on the other team gets his 10th rebound in the last 3 seconds of the game while falling out of bounds.

What is particularly ironic about the last paragraph is that while he was electrifying, it was also a "quiet" 50. Except for a string of shots in the first quarter, there was no time where he drained shots in a way that you would jump up every time he took a jumper, like what happens when Kobe is on fire. You'd be electrified by something in the split-second after it happened, but you didn't feel that pumping right before he'd go up for each shot. In that sense, it was a "quiet" 52.

Lebron made shots that were difficult to understand how he even got to - one second he's 8 feet away from the hoop, one guy all over him and another in front, and the next second he's falling past the hoop, the ball rolling in from the rim, a whistle blowing, and the Knicks players looking on in wonderment. His early alley-oop was on a full-speed, 90-degree left hand turn toward the basket followed by a straight up 36+ inch vertical and then a power slam downward with both hands, all with someone pushing against his body on the left side. Sure, we've seen him do it dozens of times - and I still can't figure out how it's physically possible. After having been beaten on defense twice, and seemingly a third time, he not only caught up to Wilson Chandler but completely stuffed a reverse layup. And in what might just be a beautiful example of how aware Lebron is, the Knicks hit a shot with 3.7 seconds left in the first half to pull within three. Lebron looks at the clock, motions for Gibson to inbound the ball to him on the run, and turns to start running up the court, with about enough time for a pull-up three. A split-second later he fires a dart to Ben Wallace on the far baseline, who gets an easy lay-in right before the buzzer.

Lebron James is a frighteningly amazing basketball player. What is especially scary is to think that he had 52-10-11 on a night where he honestly just did not play his best game. I sat there during the game wondering just what his numbers would be in a game like tonight's if he drove a little more, if his jumper were a little better, if Delonte West were helping spread the floor a little more. We're talking about a guy who just turned 24 years old, and he is capable of improving on his game to a point where he would have 70-15-15 in a game like tonight's. He is a mind-boggling wonder.

52-10-11. I still can't believe it. I'm just shaking my head... Wow.

Practice II

Following up on this post... Allen Iverson pledges to daven shacharis practice.

Talkin' 'Bout Shacharis?!...

...I thought we was talkin' 'bout practice! Either way, it will all be cleared up below in the first ever Elul Zman Press Conference.

Well, sorta...Rabbonon V'rabbosei please take your seats for a recap of the closing schmooze from Reb Allen Iverson at the end of last zman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI

Iverson: "It's starting right now, Moshe let's go!"

Reporter: "Overall, Allen, tell us how last zman ended for you as a chabura"?

Iverson: "We shteiged man. It ain't a whole bunch to that. Simple as that, we shteiged.

Reporter: "What did you talk about in The Mashgiach’s office?"

Iverson: Everything, you know, just me and him, you know, just let him know that I'm the ben Torah in his chatzir and if anyone tries to intrude, I'll be the first one to bite and protect his makom Torah, you know, the same thing I've been saying from day one.

Reporter: "Were you upset about the comments he made publicly last Shabbos?"

Iverson: "No question about it. That's what happens when people batel though, you know. When people batel, there is a whole bunch of room for negativity and I don't feed into this stuff and I do not do any talking. I don't run my mouth. If The Mashgiach has any issues with me, I believe there are things that I can control, things that I can get a grip on but this is what happens when people batel, you know one year you go to the top chabura and the next year you're out in the first year shiur. That's what happened, you know, everybody take shots at Allen Iverson. It's just unfortunate that I can't say back."

Reporter: "Are you on the same page with The Mashgiach?"

Iverson: "Yeah we're one the same page. I don't have a problem with The Mashgiach. I love The Mashgiach. You people may not believe it or feel me when I say it but I do. He's helped me do so much in my yidishkeit, helped me be the ben Torah that I am. If there's no Mashgiach, then there's no “Talmid Chochom” Allen Iverson. He's done a lot for me as far as helping me in and out of the Beis Medrash but I mean when people batel, this is the type of stuff that happens, nebach. This is what goes on when people batel, you know. When you shteig everything is everything. But when people batel, it's all about Allen Iverson and The Mashgiach. When we shteig, I know that I get the praise and The Mashgiach gets the praise but when people batel it's on me and The Mashgiach. That's something that I have to learn to accept and deal with. Y'all wonder why I don't say that I'm “the top guy in the Yeshiva”...I don't feel like I'm the “the top guy in the Yeshiva” because look as this press conference. I mean look at what we're talking about. That's why I say I'm not “the top guy in the Yeshiva”. I feel like I'm the best learner out here...the best learner in the world. “Top guys in the Yeshiva” don't go through this. “Top guys in the Yeshiva” wives don't have to go to school and hear "is your husband coming back?" What's going on with your husband and The Mashgiach and yadayada? She's nineteen years old and that's what she has to deal with. It hurts because I know that I'm better than that. I do all I can for this city, this Yeshiva, this Kollel, and my fellow bnei Torah. I don't think nobody in the world learns harder than me. For me, going through this is tough. I'm tired you know, everybody on Yeshiva Lane know, all y'all know that I want to be here. Ain't no secret. Everybody knows that I want to be a Learner for the rest of my career. But I'm tired and I'm hurt too.

Reporter: "Could you clear about your davening habits since we can't see you daven?"

Iverson: "If The Mashgiach tells you that I missed Shacharis, then that's that. I may have missed one Shacharis this year but if somebody says he missed one Shacharis of all the Shachreisim this year, then that's enough to get a whole lot started.

Reporter: "So you and The Mashgiach got caught up on Shabbos about Shacharis?"

Iverson: "If I miss Shacharis, I miss Shacharis. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about Shacharis. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be “the top guy in the Yeshiva”, and we're talking about Shacharis. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about Shacharis, not a seder, not a seder, not a seder, but we're talking about Shacharis. Not the sedarim that I go out there and die for and learn every seder like it's my last but we're talking about Shacharis man. How silly is that? Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example and all that but I'm not shoving that aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about Shacharis. We're talking about Shacharis man. (laughter from the media crowd) We're talking about Shacharis. We're talking about Shacharis. We're not talking about the sedarim. We're talking about Shacharis. When you come to the Beis Medrash, and you see me learn, you've seen me learn right, you've seen me give everything I've got, but we're talking about Shacharis right now. (more laughter)

Reporter: "But it's an issue that your Mashgiach continues to raise?"

Iverson: "Hey I hear you, it's funny to me too, hey it's strange to me too but we're talking about Shacharis man, we're not even talking about the sedarim, we're talking about Shacharis."

Reporter: "Is it possible that if you made Shacharis, not you but you would make your chavrusos/chaverim better?"

Iverson: "How in the hell can I make my chavrusos/chaveirim better by making Shacharis?

Reporter: "So they can be used to praying with you."

Iverson: "They should be used to praying with me? Those are my chavrusos/chaveirim. So my learning is going to deteriorate because I'm not making Shacharis with my chavrusos/chaveirim? Is my learning going to get worse? I'm asking you, is my learning going to get worse? So what about my learning? Is my learning going to get better because other people are batteling in my Yeshiva, I mean, do that hurt me? Do you think that hurts me? I'm being honest, people are batteling but do that hurt me? Does that hurt me when I go out there and learn for 60 minute hours, does that hurt me as a learner? Does that hurt me if this person is batteling or that person is batteling? Do it hurt me?

Reporter: "You don't need it as much as they do."

Iverson: "What do you mean by I don't need it as much?"

Reporter: "Because you're the iluy"

Iverson: "What do you mean I'm the iluy?"

Reporter: "Because you're better than they are. One of the best in the Yeshiva."

Iverson: "So why are we talking about switching Yeshivas or there's a problem with me? No, I'm not obviously I'm not. You're contradicting yourself man. If I'm the iluy, then why is all this happening?" Why does my wife have to deal with this? Why? I'm “the top guy in the Yeshiva”. Why am I supposed to be having this meeting? Why am I talking to y'all about this?

Reporter: "You said that you and The Mashgiach are on the same page but it does not sound like it?"

Iverson: "We are on the same page. We are. I'm upset because of one reason...we are in here. I don't want to deal with this man, I don't want to go through this man. This is where I want to be. I love this place, I love my chavrusos/chaveirim/rebbeim, I don't have any problems with The Mashgiach at all. The Mashgiach has problems with me as far as hashkafah...I do not know about this thing with Shacharis because I have not been missing any Shachreisim. I don't have any problems with The Mashgiach, this Honhala at all. I just don't want to go through this. That's my only problem. I don't want to go through this. Why? I don't feel that it's right. I mean me, my Rebbeim, my chavrusos/chaveirm, this Yeshiva lost. You don't hear about any one of my chavrusos/chaveirim going through this. It's me. It's just me. I have to deal with it. And now it ain't about me and The Mashgiach. It's about him. It's about Allen Iverson. The ball is in his corner.

Reporter: "What can you do different next year?"

Iverson: "I don't know. All I can do is live. That's all I can do. I am going to have to deal with this all summer. I don't have a problem with The Mashgiach. That's my man but with this stuff here, we are not as tight as I though we were. I do not talk to y'all about The Mashgiach. What hurt me was when y'all asked him about me, there should have been no comment. If you going to get rid of Allen Iverson, then get rid of Allen Iverson. Do not assassinate his character, just get rid of him. Simple as that. If Allen Iverson leaves Yeshiva, it is to make the Kollel better. Why should I have a problem with that? The yungerleit shouldn't have a problem with it. Why? Because you're doing it to make the Kollel better. That's why you are making the move. But to assassinate his character, to say we're switching him because he does not show up to Shacharis, he is late…

Reporter: "Do you think you'll be back?"

Iverson: "Hell yeah I'm coming back."

Reporter: "Did you ask your Mashgiach if you could come back?

Iverson: "Did I ask him!...I have to ask my Mashgiach if I can come back?!"

Reporter: "As opposed to switching Yeshivas?"

Iverson: "I ain't going nowhere. The Mashgiach ain't going nowhere.

Reporter: "Did The Mashgiach tell you that?"

Iverson: "Yeah"

Reporter: "Both things?"

Iverson: "Both"

The King Rises

My luck - I went to that other Cavs-Knicks game in the Garden this season.

Okay - so not only did he score 50, he did so on 16-30 shooting. He did so while hitting 7 of 13 3-pointers. He did so while still racking up 10 assists. And 8 rebounds. (The most assists + rebounds in a 50-point game since Chamberlin, I believe.) He did so while hearing trash-talk from Spike Lee on the side the whole time (the third time, as G noted, that he's received trash-talk in a game and gone on to have a ridiculous, unstoppable performance). He did all this while getting hit, shooting from way beyond the arc, through people, through double- and triple-teams.

Oh, and he's still 23.

Lebron James is going to win a lot of MVPs, and those should start this year.

Watch it.

Marty Madness

It's a very busy day, and I have a pair posts in draft that I'm working on, but in the meantime, please enjoy this great video that former WITSer Reuben Paris put together. The video is from this past Motzei Shabbos, centering around former NBA player Marty Conlon, a player on the Milwaukee Bucks whom a number of WITS guys built a fan base for called Marty Madness (I think) back in the day.

He was and is a really nice guy, a mensch - he conducts youth basketball clinics and is involved with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Special Olympics, according to the NBA profile of him - and everyone had a lot of fun at the 2nd annual WITS Alumni 2-on-2 tournament, with Marty joining in on the fun. I was forced to miss the tournament (as was my brother OD - I was hoping to play basketball with him for the first time in my life [!], as we're 8.5 years apart), much to my chagrin, but my friend Sal stopped by afterwards to give me a positive report.

He averaged 10 points on 53% shooting and 5 rebounds in 25 minutes a game while appearing in every game for the Bucks in 1994-1995, when the WITS guys formed the Marty Madness group. His teammate for the tournament was Arizona's Reuven Becker, and their opponents in the final were the very tall and talented Winter brothers from St. Louis. Want to know who won? You'll just have to watch. :)

Finally, a shout out to my good friends from the class of 2001, the always funny Shalom & stoic Sal, on their graciousness in defeat. At least you lasted a couple of minutes longer than I did last year...!

Etch-A-Sketch

(Hat tip: Shtender) The Spurs may be better than the Cavs, but this is really cool!

Game 2

Ugh.

WHY IS LARRY HUGHES STILL IN THE GAME!? Stupid foul this time. What a moron. My brother noted that on the Cavs' second possession, he took that terrible shot with :18 left on the clock. Why!?

I told my brother at halftime that I can see them slowly eating at the lead until it's down to (say) 13 near the end of the quarter, and suddenly the announcers will realize "Hey, this isn't over yet." In a way, they're doing that, but the Spurs are still picking up balls the Cavs knock away and hitting the shots, so it doesn't feel like it. But it is down to 21, so we'll see.

Wow. 58-33. This is... embarrassing. I think it's going to have to be Lebron time in the 3rd quarter, with him continuing the drives he's finally started making at the end of the half. If he can keep attacking and drawing fouls (especially on Horry, Duncan, and Oberto) they can start eating away at this lead.

45-26. The last couple shots by Parker were ridiculous. The biggest question I have now: Where are the rebounds?! The Cavs were the 2nd best team in the league at rebounding during the season - what happened?

28-17 after one. That was atrocious. Every time the Cavs let up or space out for even a second, the Spurs just attack. Where's the focus? Outside of Gibson, Z, and Snow, everyone looks dazed. No wonder they're so much better with the Varajeo/Lebron/Gibson/Pavlovic foursome together, it's the only time they play with any focus.

Finally, they take out Larry Hughes. I've been saying for over a year that they're simply better when he's not on the court.

Lebron sits with 2 quick fouls. I think that's smart. The last thing you need is the feeling that Lebron has 3 fouls a few minutes into the game.

Keys to the game, in my opinion:

• Lebron has to go sharper off the picks toward the basket.
• Gooden has to pay better attention on D.
• Gibson needs to play a lot more, Hughes a lot less, Snow when they need things to be more organized.
• Pavlovic and Gibson should attack a lot more, opening things up.
• Lebron should work away from the ball a bit more.
• Their D needs to keep Parker from those easy drives.