NBA's 2nd Season!
Apr. 26th -- The NBA playoffs are getting going thus the beginning of yet another sports transition.  We’ve moved beyond a disappointing college basketball season (congrats and no disrespect to UNC) and without Arena Football this year, there’s not much else happening.  We are just at the start of Major League Baseball’s marathon of a season and things really don’t get terribly interesting there until at least the middle of summer.  Unless you get lucky and catch a no-hitter or slugfest, like the one I witnessed last night from Fenway.  Usually they are good for naps at this time of they year.  So, most of my attention is turned toward the Orlando Magic.  And all I can say is YIKES!

What’s going on with Orlando?  Is this the same Philadelphia Sixers team that lost six of their last seven?  Dwight Howard locks up the Defenseman of the Year and they drop two out of three to Philly?  It’s disappointing to say the least and I was looking forward to maybe going to a playoff of game.  Oh yeah, I ain’t giving old Rich Devos any of my money.  He donated a huge chunk of money to a Florida campaign to discriminate against gay people and while I respect anyone’s opinion on such matters, spending money to ensure that a group of people WILL NOT have certain rights and protections under the law is rather disturbing to me!  I’m certainly not going to let ANY of my hard-earned money get anywhere near his grubbing little, self-righteous fingers.  I love the team, coaching staff and the Magic organization as a whole, having been a fan since the team’s inception.  If it were possible, even longer than that!

I was a huge Boston Celtics fan when I was growing up.  Being from the New England area, it was hard not to be.  It was the same with the Red Sox, Patriots and Bruins.   When we moved to south those devotions came with me.  After all, we initially moved to Valdosta, Georgia for about a year.  I didn’t know much about sports in that area, so I kept my allegiances.   Then we moved to Orlando.  There were no NBA teams in Florida and just the Atlanta Hawks and the New Orleans Jazz in the south.  Yes, there was an NBA team in New Orleans prior to the one that was recently added to the league (moved from Charlotte) in 2002.  The old team was in The Big Easy from 1974 to 1979, before moving to their current home in Salt Lake City.  Do you ever hear anyone asking why the club is called the Utah Jazz?  Is SLC known for their jazz clubs?  But that’s for another day.

I was at the very first Orlando Magic win ever!  It was the second game of the team’s first-ever season (1989) and I went to the game with my mom, my little brother and a friend.  The Magic had lost their first game two nights before (a 111- 106 loss to the New Jersey Nets) and were facing the New York Knicks at a sold-out O-rena.  It was so surreal to me as the Magic pulled out an unlikely 118-110 victory.  I’ve been there ever since, no matter where I lived.  And now, just because someone religious freak owns the team, it’s hard to not still be a fan.  I’ve just committed to not spending money directly with Devos businesses and that unfortunately includes basketball tickets.  Oh yeah, a no more Amway.  AMWAY?  Seriously, who buys that crap?

But common guys, enough already!  Philadelphia?  Are you serious?  I was so looking forward to Boston – Orlando series.  The Celtics are turning things around in their series (currently tied with the Chicago Bulls ate 2 a piece) but Orlando is trying their best to make another early exit.  I’ll be watching tonight and hope that the team can rebound and get back their edge.  They should be dominating this team.  Come on Magic, let’s go.  And is anyone interested in buying an NBA team.  I’d really like to go to another game.

What's Happening ...
Apr. 26th -- Well, I am at home, recovering from my knee surgery.  I had arthroscopic surgery on my right knee on Friday.  I've been in recovery mode ever since.  I had a couple of ligament tears that I somehow inflicted upon myself over the holidays.  We tried to avoid surgery by embarking on a workout program to build the muscle around the knee and thus try to make the tears less bothersome.  I had been taking an anti-inflammatory three times a day while I alternated between days with a physical therapist in a gym and exercises at home.  I had to iced down my knee every night.

It didn't seem to work real well.  I was sore constantly and knew that if I stopped taking the anti-inflammatory and icing that it would hurt rather significantly.  But that's exactly what my doctor asked me to do.  So I stopped the meds and icing (only when necessary I was told) and was on my own with my physical training.  I joined a gym and alternated between body building and cardio five days a week. 

I was skeptical but I so wanted to get my knee fixed so that I could resume an active lifestyle.  After a couple of weeks the nagging pain became unbearable.  I made an appointment with my surgeon and he set up the arthroscopy.  I went to a same-day surgery center where my surgeon inserted two tubes into my knee and repaired the rips using a micro-camera and tools.  I was out completely during the procedure and awoke about an hour later and was home just after noon.  There are just two incisions (see larger photo here, if you want) on my knee and I'll get the stitches out on Friday.  I start with another physical therapist on Monday.  I'm excited about getting my knee squared away.

Apr. 16th -- Every day I'm grateful for my job.  It's not the most exciting job in the world, but with the way things are going everywhere, I'm thrilled!  I specifically took several technical writing classes in college just for the very reason that I thought that I could find work in tough job market.  I have a nice little office, all of the tools to do my job, steady work and great pay.  Again, I'm grateful for what I've got.  While I doing this work, I am also sharpening my skills with Adobe Framemaker, which is a very powerful document builder.  Combined with my experience with Photoshop and Dreamweaver, I am putting together some nice, marketable skills.

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Red Sox are Off and Running!
Apr. 26th -- What a game.  It's just the start of another MLB season and we ahd a little gem of game already.  The Boston Red Sox battled the New York Yankees in the second of a three game series last night at Fenway.  Both teams got the bats going in a 16-11 Red Sox win.  Boston goes for the sweep tonight at 8 PM on ESPN!