Dome Pondering

3 Up 1. Memorial Day Weekend - Always a favorite of mine because it usually includes my birthday; is the unofficial start of summer; a three day weekend; and of course, commemorates those who have served to give us the right to enjoy all of the former with freedom.   2. Kevin Durant - Donating $1 Million for tornado relief in Oklahoma as well as visiting the site and taking time to listen to the stories of those are suffering is remarkable. Super Kudos to KD.  3. Birthdays - I turned 28 yesterday. I have never been one to make my birthday into a big deal, but I always appreciate the idea of celebrating one more year on God's green earth. 3 Down 1. Moore, Oklahoma - It's devastating to see the pictures of Moore, Oklahoma and to see those who have either lost everything, or have lost a loved one.  2. London Butcher Attacks - Terrorism and extremism is becoming as common as walking down the street now, and suddenly being attacked so some radical can make

Well, it's my birthday. And yes, I too hear Fifty Cents, "In Da Club" when I wrote that statement. " Go, go, go, shawty, it's yo birthday, we gon' party like it's yo birthday! " Nonetheless, yours truly is one year older, and one year wiser (I think?) at the age of twenty-eight years old.  In the past two years, I've had the posts of "What Does (Fill in Age Here) Mean?" ( What Does 26 Mean? ) ( What Does 27 Mean? ) Quite frankly, I didn't want to go that route this year for the age of twenty eight. And the truth is, I'm not sure if I could if I wanted to.  Twenty-eight feels awesome. It really does. It still hasn't hit me as of yet, but when it does, I'm not sure if I will have the same amount of life convictions the way I did about the previous two years. I can pose the same question this year - what does 28 mean? -  and instead, literally be searching for answer myself.

Where do the New York Knicks go from here? We've already heard the rants, raves, opinions, and pessimistic views on the future outlook for team blue and orange. We've also heard the crazy demands from some who are simply insane in their fandom. Let's put this out there right now, the Knicks are not getting Chris Paul. I know crazy things can happen, but the odds of that happening are probably lower than the Knicks winning a championship next year.  So really, where do we go from here? When this team was constructed by General Manager Glen Grunwald, the idea was for a three-year window of making a run towards a championship. After year one, it seems like the other two aren't as promising. From aging bodies, lack of team chemistry, limited flexibility in cap space, and other teams either gaining returning superstars (Derrick Rose and Danny Granger) or simply getting better (Nets, and Raptors), Knicks fans are worried. Some irate. Some already pushing the red butt

The season is over. It's very much all over. After watching helplessly for the last few minutes of game six against the Indiana Pacers as my boys in orange and blue tried to keep their season alive, I had to come to grips that it just wasn't in the cards for us to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Forget the opportunity to play the Miami Heat in what would have been a super fun series. Down the drain went a chance to do something greater than just making the playoffs and making some noise. But it is, what it is. And here we are.  There are so many thing to dive into, but we'll get to all of them in due time. As per normal DP policy, I waited a few days to gather my thoughts, absorb the opinions of others, and finally put together honest reaction pieces regarding the end of the 12-13 season, what lies ahead for the future, and of course, the new lightning rod that is Carmelo Anthony.  But before we get it into that, let's just re-examine the postmort

3 Up 1. Warm Weather - I love summer. And with the weather now becoming consistent with sixty degree-plus days here in New York City, you just can't beat it. Especially, when softball is involved. 2. Miguel Cabrera - Three home runs tonight against the Rangers. The man is just special. 3. Yahoo - Purchasing Tumblr is risky, but it is good to see Google's rival trying to revitalize itself in the blogging and social media world. 3 Down 1. Tornadoes - The devastation that has ripped through Texas and Oklahoma is heartbreaking. Mother nature really can be cruel at times. 2. New York Knicks Season - Well, it's all over. I'll address this later this week for sure. Still hasn't truly settled in as of yet. 3. Nicki Minaj - That performance during the Billboard Music Awards (if you can call it that) was a disgrace to real Hip Hop. I miss the days when performances and songs were about attitude, lyrics, and expression rather than doing something to "trend&q

Yours truly once again took his talents elsewhere and had his work published on the TNA Wrestling-focused blog, TNAsylum . I've become an avid follower of the blog and a guest columnist under the name of "Mortimer Plumtree", which happens to be the name of one of my favorite managers from the company's earlier days. Nonetheless, the latest export takes a look at the situation regarding TNA's World Television Championship. If your a pro wrestling fan, it's an interesting read. You can read the column here on TNAsylum, or the entire text below.

3 Up 1. Mother's Everywhere - Mother's Day is when you realize that mothers everywhere deserve more than just one day of recognition for all that they do. Especially the good ones. Hope all the mothers enjoyed today. 2. Engagements - A member of my best man trio and roommate from college got engaged this weekend. Pretty pumped for him and his fiance. Definitely the highlight of my personal week.  3. Charles Ramsey - How can you not enjoy the quotes from this guy? Plus, his heroic efforts combined with his humility in the situation is highly admirable. Especially when he rejected the reward money and suggested that it go towards the recovery of the six year old. Just great stuff.  3 Down 1. Ariel Castro - You're a coward, and a sick human being, period. Nothing much left to say.  2. Mother's Day Parade Shooting - What is going on with our society? The 19 injured in today's New Orleans Mother's Day parade is simply unfortunate.  3. Ma

Like everyone as of late, I can't get enough of the Charles Ramsey quotes. The guy is totally entertaining, and really has a distinct "down-to-earth-ness" about his new found fame as a hero. Yet, behind the awesome soundbites of Ramsey and courageous heroism that he is downplaying (another tremendous and respectable quality of humility), there is a tragic and utterly hard to bear story of the three women who were held captive for years.  After reading the autobiography of Jaycee Dugard ( A Stolen Life: Raw, Truthful, and Powerful ), who suffered a similar experience, I really have struggled with the "captivity" situation since. For most of us on the outside looking in, the story is horrific enough, but when you get into the mind, thoughts, and raw experiences as detailed by Dugard in her tell-all book, it leaves you heart-broken, angry, and completely unable to wrap your mind around how anyone - much less a CHILD - can endure, survive, and recover from

"How about that Mayweather and Guerrero fight?" - Said No One After all of the hype around "May Day", the tagline used for the Mayweather/Guerrero fight, it seems like the fight arrived, occurred, and to some of us, like it never happened. There was nothing of significance or substance to take away from this past Saturday night's fight. With the same old script of Mayweather dominating, "May Day" was pretty much "Blah Day." Mayweather picked apart Guerrero (with an injured hand), and pretty much dodged every punch Guerrero could muster to swing at him.  You just have to feel bad for those who put down sixty bucks to see that fight. Either they were poor souls jonesing for something to happen in boxing, or simply put, suckers. Either way, Mayweather will earn another win once the buyrates are announced.  Going into the fight, I never heard of Guerrero, but I had very little fate that he would be able to defeat Mayweather. I, l

3 Up  1. Knicks Defeat Celtics, 4 games to 2 - Finally (!!), my boys have advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs where it will only get tougher. 2. Carmelo Anthony - His play down the stretch in game six against the Celtics is the kind of stuff that defines the intestinal fortitude of a player. ( Witnessing Carmelo's Crowning Moment Thus Far ) 3. Jason Collins - Took a lot of guts to do what he did this week. Major props to him. 3 Down 1.No Tolerance - After a week where Jason Collins announced that he was gay, and opened up the discussion for tolerance in our society, both sides unfortunately twisted the announcement into an agenda for themselves ( How We All Mishandled the Jason Collins Announcement ). 2. Death of Soccer Referee - A sad death for soccer referee, Ricardo Portillo, who was sucker punched by a seventeen year old during a game. Portillo landed inside of a coma before passing away. 3. Sport of Boxing - How terrible was that Ma

Whhhhhhhhhhhew!  I'll admit, there was a tremendous amount of anxiety felt watching game six tonight between my New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics. Of course, throughout the game, the traumatic idea of the Celtics making history sat in the background of my conscience. And with each bucket that chipped away at a one time twenty-six point fourth quarter lead, that knot in my stomach grew tighter and larger. The thoughts crept into my head about game seven back at Madison Square Garden. Even worse, if we lost this game, how can we expect to win game seven?! But rest assured, those thoughts were put to rest. For the first time since I was fifteen, my boys in orange and blue have won a playoff series. And as excited as I am to move on to the second round, I feel a combination of happiness, relief, and respect for Carmelo Anthony.

The first openly gay athlete among major North American team sports.  It has a very distinct and historic feel to the statement. Anything first usually will be, and anything revolving around the continuing homosexual community will be as well. Now the debate moves to sports, where machismo and sentiments of being anti-homosexual has filled the culture for decades. We've seen the change in women sports, but with an NBA player now joining the platform, the topic now hits a bigger realm.  As topics revolving around Collins progresses in discussion and expands into many facets regarding culture, society, sports, race, gender, religion, and other corners that make us all so different, I found myself moving from a genuine "cool, good for him" , to "wait...hold on just a minute" , to eventually, "now we've gone too far" . And let me be clear as I've said my share on this topic to the dismay of a vocal group in the past - this is all hones