Mikey D

-Is anyone else already tired of the where-will-LeBron-go speculation? It’s obviously going to be the story of the summer, but man, it’s already old. Like Brett Favre coverage old. Speaking of Favre, what’s going to happen when training camps get going? How are they going to cover these two huge and so very important stories at once? I mean Rachel Nichols can’t be in two places at once!

-Since everyone in the world is giving their uninformed and uneducated opinions about where LeBron will go, might as well give mine. I think he’s going to the Timberwolves. Why? Minnesota needs someone to attract Ricky Rubio and pull him away from his club team in Spain. Otherwise they’ll have just wasted their top-10 pick from last year, and Minnesota is too proud of a franchise to let that embarrassment happen. And I guess LeBron would help with jersey and ticket sales, which would be a nice bonus as well.

-Russell Byrd, MSU’s incoming freshman SG, recently broke his foot in a workout. What is up with our guards? Lucious did that last year. Lucas and Allen this year. Now Byrd. What I’m really curious about is what shoes he was wearing. If he was wearing our team shoe, Izzo really needs to make a switch- at least to a different Nike shoe. Four guards in little over a year? That cannot be just a string of unfortunate bad luck.

-So a lot of love is being given to Purdue now that Johnson and Moore are coming back to join Hummel for their senior seasons. They’ll definitely be a top team in the Big Ten, but I’m skeptical of giving them a top-two ranking. Don’t underestimate the loss of Kramer. He was their Travis Walton- a senior leader who ran the point and played lockdown defense. There’s going to be an adjusting period with that team, so for now I’d put them around #5 in the preseason rankings. Not shabby at all, but not top-two.

-The more I think about Big Ten expansion the more I don’t want it. I could live with one more team, like Notre Dame, but not up to sixteen. Including schools like Nebraska and Rutgers just doesn’t feel right. Nebraska and New Jersey? That’s not Big Ten country. Neither is Syracuse or Connecticut. I want the Big Ten to keep its Midwestern feel (it’s bad enough Penn State was included as the 11th). I know it’s all about money, as always, so it’s irrelevant really where these schools are located, but as a fan I want the schedule and rivalries to stay relatively same. I already hate how some teams miss playing each other during the Big Ten football seasons, and this would only further my distaste. Add Notre Dame or don’t add anybody. That’s my vote.

-These last few episodes of ‘24’ have been epic. I cannot express to you how much I’ve enjoyed them. I can remember back to the first season, when Jack had a gun drawn on the bad guy (I forget his name and I’m too lazy to look it up) during the last episode, and wishing that Jack would just blow his brains out. I figured he wouldn’t since the good guys always do the right thing and just arrest the bad guys, but Jack was different. He pumped that mother fucker full of lead. It was like the writers of ‘24’ knew what people wanted to see. And while the subsequent seasons have been frustrating on more than one occasion, the writers are getting it right as ‘24’ wraps up its final episodes. They are giving the people what they want: Jack unleashed. And I have to say…it’s fucking awesome. So very fucking awesome.

-How awful would the NHL playoffs have been if the Penguins won Game 7? You’d have the Blackhawks, Sharks, Penguins, and Flyers. I hate the Blackhawks- fuck Hossa. I hate the Sharks for taking out the Wings. I hate the Penguins because they have our Cup. And the Flyers…well they’re lucky just to be in the playoffs, but by process of elimination they’re the team I’d root for. I’d be rooting for the 7th seed out of the Eastern Conference (although I suppose I am right now anyway). Sheesh.

-I’m thinking about getting a book on tape for my rides to and from work in the morning and afternoon. Any suggestions? I remember I got a book on tape from the library on one of my car trips to Maryland five or six years ago and really enjoyed it. It made the ride go quickly, and as summer approaches, that would be nice during the hot afternoon Maryland traffic leaving Baltimore.

-I also got a job this summer teaching at a charter school in Washington D.C. They sent me an offer letter this past week, so I will have some income this summer, which will be a pleasant change. Usually I just keep my tax refund and use some of it to pay the bills during the summer months, but this year I am actually going to forgo my summer of Wii playing and online poker gambling to be a working stiff. You know, just typing that last sentence out makes me feel like I made a bad decision. How will my created player ever make it to the Bigs if I don’t play??? He’ll be stuck in Mexico forever.

-I think the outside renovation Grace and I have undertaken is pretty much complete for the year. We’ve got the new front door, flowers in the garden in the front and backyard, got some grass growing in the front lawn, a new outside light fixture, and a new patio set for the back patio. We’ve spent a lot of time in the garden, and it’s actually been kind of fun. Some of the teachers I work with say it’s a little fruity, but eh, fuck em’. It’s a relaxing hobby Grace and I can do together, we get outside, and when you finish you can take a lot of pride in the work you did. Anyway, our home definitely looks less ugly from the outside. Maybe I’ll take some pictures or something.

Okay, that’s enough typing.

~Mikey D