Fired Up Friday

If you have ever talked to me for more than an hour, you know that I get fired up pretty easy and will complain about just about anything.  And you will probably hear me say something like, "You know what I'm fired up about?"  So, I've decided every Friday, I'm going to give you the things I'm currently fired up about, so without further adu...

Here is the list of things I am fired up about this week:

The San Antonio Spurs

I'm not so much upset about the San Antonio Spurs, but more the lack of attention the Spurs are receiving.  The Spurs are 21-3 at this point and look like the best team in the league.  If you haven't watched this team yet, I understand why.  You probably think that this Spurs team is the Spurs of the past ten years.  They walk it up and down the floor.  They're slow.  They play good defense.  I'm bored.  Don't make me watch this.  Things have changed though.  The Spurs are now one of the highest scoring teams in the league and can be very excited.  If you don't want to watch them because they're exciting, at least watch them for their cast of characters.

The Spurs have one of the most eclectic group of players in the whole league.  Everything on that team runs through the big man in the middle, Tim Duncan.  Duncan is, in my mind, the greatest power forward of all-time.  Though his greatness is undeniable, his excitement has always been lacking.  He is meticulous to a fault.  If you truly appreciate the game, you will understand just how great he is otherwise I'm sure you'll probably be bored.  (And that fires me up!  Learn the game!  Appreciate Duncan's greatness!)

Now to the rest of the cast.  You have the French point guard formerly known as Tony Parker-Longoria, but he's recently dropped the Longoria.  There's the Argentinian shooting guard, who has the most unusual footwork of anyone in the history of the league.  (More on this later.) And last, but not certainly not least, there is one of my ten favorite players in the league, Matt Bonner. 

With all due respect to Brian Scalabrine, Bonner is easily the best pale red-headed player in the league.  The thing I love about Bonner and Scalabrine is that they both look like The Sandlot's Hamilton Porter all grown up, but they represent two very different lives.  Scalabrine looks like the Hamilton Porter that fails as a professional wrestler and goes on to live in the trailer park on the wrong side of town.  On the other hand, Bonner looks like the successful husband that gave up professional wrestling for the hustle and bustle of the business world.

Another reason I love Bonner is that his shot looks eerily similar to that of a middle school girl.  (Please watch the links side-by-side.  This Caroline girl shoots just like Bonner.)  (Parentheses to my parentheses: Why are there so many videos of this little girl playing basketball?  She's in sixth grade, mom and dad.  You're not getting her a scholarship anytime soon, so lets just calm down with all the filming.)

People Complaining about NBA Referees

Anyone who complains about the referees of the NBA need to get a grip on reality.  We have always known that there are certain calls the referees will make and certain calls that they won't.  And THIS will never be called a travel.  I'm sorry to break your hearts, but if there is a borderline travel at the end of a game, it will NEVER be called.  It's just a fact.  There is no reason to get fired up about it.

Something that did get me fired up about NBA referees is them correctly calling a charge in the Spurs-Nuggets game last night.  This is a really tough call for referees to make because you typically want to let players decide the game and not referees, but in this case that's exactly what happened.  Ginobili understood that Carmelo Anthony was going to storm through the lane on his way to the basket and the best way to stop him was to take a charge.  I couldn't be happier that a group of referees stepped up and made the right call.

Anthony "Showtime" Pettis

I'm sure this is a name almost none of you have heard before, but it's a name you should get to know.  Some of you might recognize Pettis from his time on "World of Jenks", but THIS is the reason you should now know him.  (Don't skip over that link.  Watch it!)

That is the most amazing thing I have ever seen in a MMA fight.  I'm not saying I'm a huge MMA fan or anything, but because Pettis is from Milwaukee I was watching the fight live last night and I was up off my feet when it occurred.  That kick is something you say when you're with your friends watching MMA in your buddy's basement like "Hey man, what if you would run up the side of the wall and kick the guy."  It's not something you would ever expect a professional MMA fighter to do.


Now that I got all of this off my chest, I think I will be able to breathe for another week, but next Friday I will be back with many more grievances on Christmas Eve.