Really Brutal Season

To play eighty-two regular season games is already taxing on the body. How about shortening the NBA playoff series down to best of five, except for the championship? I hated seeing Jason Tatum unavailable, and now even though Philadelphia advanced, Joel Embiid may be injured. We want to see the games, but yearn to have the star players well enough to participate. 

The Hawks Collapsed

Don't get me wrong, the New York Knicks are a good basketball team, but Atlanta just fell apart in the final game of the series. No pro team is naturally as dominant against other professionals as NY demonstrated. It was simply Atlanta giving up early in the game. Maybe the NBA should have a mercy rule when an embarrassing blowout like this starts to happen. 

Against the Odds

The Timberwolves were without their starting guards, and their third guard who has provided them dynamic athleticism coming off the bench. They were also missing a swingman and playing against the franchise that just a few short years back captured a championship. Minnesota losing Ant alone should have installed Denver as favorites, even though the Nuggets were playing on the road. Well, Minnesota played with teamwork and determination and prevailed over a team that while not fully healthy themselves was much more intact than the home team. All I can say now is "go Wolves!"

Demonize the Jews

I find it ironic that those who have rushed to condemn Israel for a statue broken in Lebanon and an assault on a nun have not said "boo" about Christians being systematically slaughtered by jihadists across Africa and the Middle East. Those who do not speak out more vociferously for Christian lives under threat from expansionist and uncompromising Islamists are not humanitarians, but simply Jew haters.

Real Jew Hatred

Certain Jews have committed crimes. They did not do this because they were Jewish, but because they were criminals. Israel is not always right, but when the leaders make mistakes, it is not because they follow a particular faith, but because they are flawed, just like every other human being of any faith or no faith. I remember being in a brokerage office with my Dad back when Ivan Boesky committed his financial crimes, and hearing the non-Jewish brokers and investors tearing into "that Jew Boesky". My thought then was: do these folks think only Jews commit securities crimes? Now, I realize anyone who makes the salient point the religion of the criminal is not denouncing an offender, but declaring for all the world to hear what a hater they are. 

Thoughts on Fetterman

Senator Fetterman is the only major national figure among the DemocRATS who still places country above party. He still suffers some impairment from his health issues, but he is a thoughtful and decent human being. He is the sole member of the not-so-loyal opposition I would consider voting for unless he was running against an exceptional MAGA Republican. 

Hearing the Thunder

I woke up to loud booms and a shaking house. If I were in the Holy Land, that noise might have been a missile attack. Thank goodness, in the United States when that cacophony erupts, it is not an artillery barrage or aerial bombardment, but simply lightning and thunder.