First off, I hope you all have a good Memorial Day weekend.  I started mine off by going to see Pirates of the Carribean and Spider-Man 3.  If you are a HUGE fan of the first film in each franchise, then I recommend you stay away from these.  If you are a fan of the entire franchise, then you will enjoy them (I STRONGLY urge you to re-watch Pirates 2 before going to see 3, unless you have #2 memorized, #3 might leave you in the dust a bit)

Pirates had amazing special effects, but not quite as amazing a story, while Spider-Man, when he was kicking butt, the movie was good, otherwise he was mopey, dopey and the movie slogged thru the frames, and there was not quite enough butt-kicking in comparison to the mopey-dopey's.  Good action tho, in both films, I will say that.

Now, on to some other quickie topics:  (This Blog is a bit long in the tooth, fair warning, I won't be posting again til next week)

Cleveland Fans - I urge you not to give up hope until or unless your team goes down 3-0.  With them coming home now for 2 games, I think the Cavs will find new energy in their game, and unless the Pistons bring their A+ game, this series can very easily end up being tied and eventually go the entire 7 games.  If the Pistons win game 3 however, it's over, you're not going to beat the Pistons 4 straight, they are just too good.

Piston Fans - Enjoy this while it lasts, altho I think the Pistons are extremely lucky to be up 2-0, one or two baskets going in the other way and this would be an 0-2 series.  Neither team has played well, tho the Pistons have had just enough individual star performances to hold on and win 2 games, for which I toss a salute to the Pistons, who would be a very worthy representative for the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.

Jazz Fans - The hardest thing that Jerry Sloan will have to admit to is that his team's only real chance over a 48 minute game is to run, run, and then start running some more.  The Jazz are younger, quicker, and best of all cocky enough to not really have it sink in that they are basically playing for a shot at the NBA title now.  Sloan's teams however, have rarely been willing to be totally driven by their offense, while also playing solid half court defense.   You can say that the Jazz have played them even for a half in each of the first 2 games, but I still see a "deer in the headlights" look about them, and unless they start running hard, fouling hard, and playing hard for 50 minutes a night, the Spurs are gonna sweep this series.  I remain hopeful tho.

Spurs Fans - Ok, ok, you're up 2-0 against a team that, admittedly, you should be up 2-0 against.  The Jazz have no answer for Duncan (who does), and the way they keep leaving the Spurs outside shooters wide open is almost criminal.  Yes, the Spurs are playing their exact same game, with no changes at all from the norm.  But if the Spurs come out of the West (I think this is very likely), They will face their first real test, when they have to handle the Pistons, whom I think will eventually come out of the East.  While the Pistons have no real answer for Duncan, neither do the Spurs have an answer for Rasheed Wallace, if Wallace can control his temper.  As for the here and now, if the Jazz get their normal 2nd wind going home, be ready for a barn-burner o####ame 3 and 4....

Some non-basketball related notes:

Who REALLY cares if Bonds breaks Aaron's home run record ?   I will applaud him for doing it when it happens (reservedly because of the possible steroid issues), but until then, it's not that big a deal really.  (Now let someone get even CLOSE to DiMaggio's hitting streak record and Ill sit up and take notice)

At the rate the NFL is suspending players this off-season, we're going to need a 2nd NFL draft just so all the teams can put out a full roster of players come opening day.  And whatever happened to NFL teams policing their own players?  I guess when a corporate mentality is running a team, the pecadillo's of the players is just not that important anymore.

Did anyone watch that Jermaine Taylor/Cory Spinks fight the other night on HBO ?  Good lord what a joke that was, especially Spinks running around like he won the thing.  I do find it interesting tho that the same things Spinks did that LOST him this fight were almost the very same things that won Mayweather his fight with DeLahoya.  The undercard fight with Pavlik however, now THAT was a good brawl!

Lastly, and this is just my own damned opinion - ANY player who tests positive for any banned substance or drug should be gone for 1 year, first offense, and banned for life on the 2nd.   I just find it amazing how much we coddle drug abuse in the major sports instead of taking a firm hand and saying you are free to do what you want, but there is a price for that freedom.   Hell most jobs in the real world, you got ONE shot, and if you fail, you are fired.  Why is there such a double standard regarding drugs between a Sports employee, and a Real World employee ?  It just makes no sense to me.

Ok, Im out - have a good holiday, see you all next week!