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Ahhhhhh this is the life.  This picture pretty much describes what I’ve been doing for the last couple of days.  First day…early-morning run, watching Wimbledon, reading by the pool, wading around, Scrabble, seafood dinner by the ocean, scotch, salsa and guacamole and a midnight swim.  Montauk is so relaxing.
Ahhhhhh this is the life.  This picture pretty much describes what I’ve been doing for the last couple of days.  First day…early-morning run, watching Wimbledon, reading by the pool, wading around, Scrabble, seafood dinner by the ocean, scotch, salsa and guacamole and a midnight swim.  Montauk is so relaxing.
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QUOTE
“

WE BELIEVE…we’re in a lot of pain right now.

2008 Golden State Warriors offseason…Where “Ain’t That a Bitch?” Happens.

“
— Goldenstateofmind.com
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This is a horrible, horrible day in Warriors history.  Losing our franchise player with absolutely nothing to show for it erases all of our recent success and puts us back in the NBA dark ages.  You need an elite point guard to compete in the West, and all of a sudden, we’re dreadfully thin at PG.  If Arenas doesn’t take our offer, we’ll be stuck with a PG free agent pool with the likes of Chris Duhon, Anthony Carter, Carlos Arroyo, Jason Williams and Anthony Johnson. After having a day to stew it over, I really don’t think that we could have done anything about it.  Baron wanted to be in LA.  It’s his hometown and his film/directing career is supposedly on the rise.  He wants to rub noses with Hollywood bigwigs.  Nobody just gives up $17.8 million.  That’s more than a fourth of his new 5-year, $65 million deal with the Clippers.  Nothing short of throwing the max his way (6-years, $100+) would have kept him in GS, and do we really want to do that with Monta/Biedrins still needing extensions and Baron’s health always a question mark? I’m not sure on the particulars, but perhaps there’s a way to salvage the situation with a sign-and-trade with the Clippers.  Since free agents can’t formally sign until July 9th, perhaps we can work a sign-and-trade for somebody like Maggette (who the Clips have to let go to sign Baron and Brand) that gives both guys a better deal than they can sign elsewhere and gives us something to show for losing Baron.  Maggette’s not a superstar, but he fits decently into our system — he can score and get to the line, which complements our outside shooters. So what now?  Assuming Monta and Biedrins sign, we shift Monta to the PG spot and Stephen Jackson to SG and play a more traditional backcourt.  Maybe this means that we try to resign Barnes (Dallas is interested) or Pietrus (Miami/Orlando interested), both who are unrestricted free agents.  We’ll see what happens in the next few days, but Mullin has a lot of work to do to right this ship.

This is a horrible, horrible day in Warriors history.  Losing our franchise player with absolutely nothing to show for it erases all of our recent success and puts us back in the NBA dark ages.  You need an elite point guard to compete in the West, and all of a sudden, we’re dreadfully thin at PG.  If Arenas doesn’t take our offer, we’ll be stuck with a PG free agent pool with the likes of Chris Duhon, Anthony Carter, Carlos Arroyo, Jason Williams and Anthony Johnson.

After having a day to stew it over, I really don’t think that we could have done anything about it.  Baron wanted to be in LA.  It’s his hometown and his film/directing career is supposedly on the rise.  He wants to rub noses with Hollywood bigwigs.  Nobody just gives up $17.8 million.  That’s more than a fourth of his new 5-year, $65 million deal with the Clippers.  Nothing short of throwing the max his way (6-years, $100+) would have kept him in GS, and do we really want to do that with Monta/Biedrins still needing extensions and Baron’s health always a question mark?

I’m not sure on the particulars, but perhaps there’s a way to salvage the situation with a sign-and-trade with the Clippers.  Since free agents can’t formally sign until July 9th, perhaps we can work a sign-and-trade for somebody like Maggette (who the Clips have to let go to sign Baron and Brand) that gives both guys a better deal than they can sign elsewhere and gives us something to show for losing Baron.  Maggette’s not a superstar, but he fits decently into our system — he can score and get to the line, which complements our outside shooters.

So what now?  Assuming Monta and Biedrins sign, we shift Monta to the PG spot and Stephen Jackson to SG and play a more traditional backcourt.  Maybe this means that we try to resign Barnes (Dallas is interested) or Pietrus (Miami/Orlando interested), both who are unrestricted free agents.  We’ll see what happens in the next few days, but Mullin has a lot of work to do to right this ship.

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I’m on the Hampton Jitney bus to Montauk right now, to spend a few days at the Van Reepinghen summer home!  Should be a really fun and relaxing time with an always-strong cast of characters: Em, Rufie, Ian, Yugi, Rob, Nancy, Jackson and Olivia, among others.  I’m hoping for a lot of seafood and time in the sun! Today, I flew Virgin America for the first time.  I must say that I had a very pleasant experience.  The interior was sleek and stylish, and the stewards were very pleasant.  The personal entertainment console was amazing, allowing you to order snacks and drinks, watch tv, create your own music playlist and play games (spent some time playing “stackable mahjong”).  For the first time in a while, I paid attention to the safety video, because they made it funny and entertaining with cartoon characters. That said, it’s gonna be tough to stay on my exercise and diet plan for the next 3 weeks.  I MUST STAY COMMITTED.  Even if that means waking up an hour and half before eveyrone else and going for a run and doing a homemade workout.  I also won’t be equipped with my usual arsenal of Clif Bars, egg whites, yogurt and cereal, so I’ll have to find some way to keep my calories up throughout the day to quell my appetite at meal time.  Wish me luck!

I’m on the Hampton Jitney bus to Montauk right now, to spend a few days at the Van Reepinghen summer home!  Should be a really fun and relaxing time with an always-strong cast of characters: Em, Rufie, Ian, Yugi, Rob, Nancy, Jackson and Olivia, among others.  I’m hoping for a lot of seafood and time in the sun!

Today, I flew Virgin America for the first time.  I must say that I had a very pleasant experience.  The interior was sleek and stylish, and the stewards were very pleasant.  The personal entertainment console was amazing, allowing you to order snacks and drinks, watch tv, create your own music playlist and play games (spent some time playing “stackable mahjong”).  For the first time in a while, I paid attention to the safety video, because they made it funny and entertaining with cartoon characters.

That said, it’s gonna be tough to stay on my exercise and diet plan for the next 3 weeks.  I MUST STAY COMMITTED.  Even if that means waking up an hour and half before eveyrone else and going for a run and doing a homemade workout.  I also won’t be equipped with my usual arsenal of Clif Bars, egg whites, yogurt and cereal, so I’ll have to find some way to keep my calories up throughout the day to quell my appetite at meal time.  Wish me luck!

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Federer Rollin'

In a draw that was supposed to be problematic, Federer is into the quarterfinals without having dropped a set.

Federer d. Hrbaty, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

Federer d. Soderling, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6

Federer d. Gicquel, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1

Federer d. Hewitt, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4

He’ll play Mario Ancic in the quarters.  He’s the last guy to beat Federer at Wimbledon (6 years ago), but he won’t pose a problem this year.  The semis will likely be against Marat Safin or Marcos Baghdatis.

Another showdown with Nadal seems to be inevitable.  Nadal’s draw is wide open.  It’s going to be a wildly entertaining final, I can’t wait!