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Kobe Bryant, Congratulations!  You've won it all.  You've laid to rest the naysayers, the critics, and haters.  As much as you've shoved the dagger into my sports heart over the years - I can only applaud you now.  You earned this one on your own, with a little help from an incompetent Grizzlies GM (Gasol for peanuts), KG's knee, Manu's ankle and 1 or 2 all-stars missing from the Rockets.  It was cute seeing you count the number of championships on your hand, very reminiscent of Jordan counting his 6th win in Utah.  I guess it wasn't enough that you stole his fist pump and interviewing style.  Even though your coach wrote a tell all book about your lack of charcter, you ratted out Shaq when being interviewed by the police after an alleged rape, the alleged rape, the fact that I predicted none of your teamates, except for Fisher, would embrace you after you won the recent title - and none of them did, or the fact that you really had the opportunity to count 6-8 championship rings on those fingers had you matured a little faster.  The fact is, that you did it your way, on your terms and you've catapulted yourself in the Top 10 - EVER conversation.  As much as I despise you as a person, role model, teammate and face of the nba, I have to say now, that watching you speak at the post game conference was refreshing.  I can put aside my dislike of your character, to appreciate your accomplishment within the context of basketball history. I've read both sides of the arguments about how great OR how selfish you are.  My final thoughts after this season, is that you're one of the Top 10 greatest players ever.  You work harder than anyone else in the league, you push your teammates, being a leader in the only way that you know.  Its been great watching you all of these years.  Really.  You've fueled my passion for basketball since the turn of the millenium.  You've helped me grow closer to family members, as we stand in solidarity of our hatred towards you.  You've helped me keep the basketball discourse flowing with old college friends.  You kept the competitive fire alive in Shaq, KG, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzski, Dwayne Wade and many more.  You taught Lebron, CP3 and Dwight Howard and the entire Redeem Team how to prepare for the game during the offseason.  Its incredible what you've done for the game.  I appluad you from now until the next post season.  Lakers, nba champs, 2008-2009.

In hopes of getting away from anything NBA related - I've been getting my fair share of youtube distractions. Not sure what genre of music this is, they list it as Italian Pop?  I love the the over top imagery in the video though.  Enjoy.

Yani:  109-102 Nugs
MT:  105-97 Lake Show OR first to 100pts.
NL: 108-99 Lake Show
VC: 115-110 Lake Show

I've highlighted many times why I don't believe Kobe can win a championship with the way that he leads his team.  (Especially with great leaders like KG and Lebron in the East).  Let me include words from one of my favorite sports bloggers, who sums it up perfectly.  Be sure to check out the graphic!

"Bonus Kobedickery: Basketbawful reader catfish asked: "Can somebody find a clip of when Kobe practically punched Gasol in the head after getting burned by Scola? They had a timeout, and Kobe went upside the big Spaniard's heads to make sure his point got across. It reminded me of one of Curt Schilling's blog posts from last year where he noticed the drastic difference between the bonds of the Boston Celtics and how everyone on the Lakers hated to be playing with Kobe. Is there any athlete that is more disliked by every single teammate hes ever had?" Not sure I'm qualified to answer that question (although the answer is "no"), but Dunpizzle provided a link to an animated gif of the moment."

Numero24

John Mccain.  I used to admire you.  You, Colin Powell, Linda Lingle and Bobby Jindal were the only Republicans that I ever listened to for more than 5 minutes.  WHAT HAPPENED?  Why did you get all Karl Rove tactics on us?  Why in the world did you pick that parrot as your running mate?  I miss the old Mccain, the one who got trampled by Bush in 2000 for being honest and conducting himself with the same dignity that Americans grew to admire you for.  The one who was a decent senator and really was a political maverick.  Now?  You're appealing to the same right wingnut knuckleheads who got Bush elected twice.  But thats the problem, those people don't even like you.  Once this election is up they'll be dissecting every mistake you made and passing you off as a washed up "didn't have the right stuff" candidate while they get ready for 2012.  Anyhow Mccain, I hope you can find a way to bring some dignity back to you and your campaign.  To your legacy.  You were too good of a man to be remembered by Robocalls, angry debates and guilt-by-Ayers-assocation tactics.  I don't even care that you voted with W. 90% of the time, I remember a lot of good legislation that you passed, that you party didn't appreciate.  That was what made you different and attracted independent voters.  That was your appeal, but now it is gone.  

Statistics in the Polls show that Obama has a clear advantage when the focus of the election is on the economy.  Statistics in the Polls also show that Mccain has a clear advantage when the focus of the election is on the war.  Given the history of the dirty tricks that the Republican party play in elections, coupled with the misguided information that Bush used to get us into the Iraq war, I'm predicting an all out gutter move by the Republicans this election.  What I'm saying is - I'm predicting a disgusting, completely suspect act of terror on either an American alley, an American Naval carrier, US Embassy or possibly the announcement of a major change in strategy with the Surge.  God forbid that any of this happen and please understand that as a former Marine who has friends in Iraq - I pray that none of this happens.  Its just that I wouldn't put it past the powers-that-be to make something like this happen.  I mean, if you don't believe me then try to explain to me why we're at war with Iraq, how the war benefitted the 2004 elections and explain to me why that could not happen on a micro level right before this election. 

Its scary, I know.

Lets hope it doesn't happen.

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This was my entry:  Traditional Ahi poke on the left.  Hamachi w/ avocado, caviar and a spicy marinade on the right.  We'll get in the top 3 one of these years!  I had a great time, met some great people.  Everyone from Hawaii loves poke and in my opinion it takes a lifetime to master this simple dish.

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Another view - we had to bring 2lbs of Poke with platters for each of the 5 judges.  Like my Hawaiian red salt garnish?  Well... even though the winner was (in my opinion) not an amateur (amateurs know how to make wasabi foam??), and the runner-ups are borderline professional poke masters (owners of Aloha Fish Market), I still had a good time and will step my game up next year!  Ok, so I sound like a sore loser, but really - a poke contest for amateurs should be just that!

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2nd Place - Sure, most amateurs have a Fish Market business card next to their entry.  LOL.

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3rd place - You had me at Heineken.  By the way, that is the total Hawaiian selling point.  Its kind of like dangling a green card in front of a Cuban gymnastics judge at a competition in Miami.  To his credit, this looks succulant and I'll never fault someone for going traditional.

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The lady who made this was really sweet, I was rooting for her.  Darn, it looks like I didn't get a picture of 1st place.  In my opinion this poke looked the tastiest.

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Poke with Green Papaya!