Detroit Pistons Will Win the NBA Title

Well, not this year, but I'm sure they will get there if they do the right things this year and continue to draft well and make a few key free agent acquisitions. I didn't miss the NBA lookout at all. It is tuff to relate with millionaires complaining about multi millionaires. So I didn't jump through the roof when they decided to come back and play.

The best thing that the NBA did was start the season on Christmas day and showcase the better teams in the league. Unfortunately, the other 20 teams in the league now need to play and this is where the Pistons will fall this year.

The game between the Pistons and Pacers is unwatchable as the Pistons are being clowned by an average team. It is amazing that the Pistons front office decided to keep so many of the players that stunk the place up last year and didn't deserve another chance. The Pistons were 30 - 52 last year. I would have been much more happy with them going with a heavy dose of the young guys and let them play.

They Pistons lack size and athleticism on their front court. The still have three of the four guards that were on the team last year and several of the players are playing out of positions.

The player that I most disappointed with last year was Tayshaun Prince. The guy made over $11 million dollars last year and was poised to take over the team and be the leader... he didn't. This year he looks a step slower and still doesn't look like he hustles on the floor.

The coaching looks improved in that they don't seem to be yelling at each other or the refs. It drove me nuts last year as it seemed that every time they had a foul, they would raise the hands palms up towards the roof saying that they didn't foul. At least they aren't doing that anymore. The ball movement is average and they don't rebound the ball well. I hope that Joe Dumars is just showcasing some of the veterans so that they can be traded later in the year for draft picks... then again, he did resign Stuckey, Prince and Wallace this year... and two of the three are just stealing money this year.

Christmas in the D

The older I get the harder my parents are to shop for. When did this change occur? I used to get my dad a crazy tie and make something in shop class for my mom and now that I am an adult and can afford anything they would ever need, I can’t seem to find anything they want.

So it is no surprise but they enjoy going to the casino and spending their entertainment budget gambling. I have no problem with this as they set a limit that they are going to spend and they never have a problem with their method.

So I figured that I would buy them some chips so they could go gamble on my dime. I figured, this makes me happy and also makes them happy… the classic win/win situation.

I typically start my shopping on Christmas Eve (don’t ask me why, I just always do this) and this year was no different. I headed to the casino on Christmas Eve to find out that my idea of buying the chips on my credit card became an epic fail as the casino does not take American Express cards. So today on Christmas Day I headed back to the casino with green backs and bought chips with them.

The thing that I found shocking was the amount of people at the casino on Christmas day. I was not expecting to see the amount of people that were spending time there instead of their families. I wonder if they were real hard core gamblers or if they had nothing better to do.

Update... I taped the Casino chips to the bottom of a Santa Clause and gave the gift to the parents. Both the parental units liked the chips and they didn't give me any grief for getting them the chips... I may have struck gold with this gift as I can give this gift year after year. Tomorrow I will need to head out to see if I can find a Santa for next year while they are still cheap and readily available.

Things Wrong With Christmas During The Information Age

It is 2011 Christmas day and the kids are just opening gifts. The air is filled with excitement as the kids open their gifts.

A few minutes later the kids are depressed and are complaining to their parents. What happened???

It is the information age and the way we communicate with each other has changed with the times. When I was a kid we would open our gifts and when we went back to school we would all be wearing our new clothes that we got and a few of us where in awe of some of the other kids that got the cool gift.

Move forward 40 years and things have changed. This morning’s joy of finding out that they are going to a cool concert this summer is broken a few minutes later when one of them found out that their friends are also going to the concert but are sitting closer to the stage.

This would have never happened “back in the day”, but the speed in how information travels makes the mood shifts much more severe in this new age.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Time to Stop Driving

How you know when it is time to "hang up the car keys"?
I say it's when your dog has this look on his face!

Why Dogs are a Man’s Best Friend

You may have heard about the crash of the helicopter that killed 30 military men including several Navy SEALS. The story is not about that incident but what happened to Petty Officer Jon T. Tumilson when he was laid to rest last Friday in Rockford, Iowa. An estimated 1,500 mourners came to pay respects for the fallen Navy SEAL, including his dog Hawkeye. In fact, Hakeye's loyalty to his owner at the funeral was visible, creating a heart-wrenching image as he lay down by the casket of his owner during the entire service:

Tumilson's cousin Lisa Pembleton wrote that 'Hawkeye is/was his loyal 'son'. To say that he was an amazing man doesn't do him justice. The loss of Jon to his family, military family and friends is immeasurable."

Donations may be made to the Frogman238 Memorial Fund, First Security Bank and Trust, 201 West Main Ave., Rockford, Iowa 50468, (641)756-3361, to honor Tumilson's memory.

JOTD - Half Off

A husband and wife are shopping in their local Wal-Mart.

The husband picks up a case of Budweiser and puts it in their cart.

What do you think you're doing? asks the wife.

They're on sale, only $10 for 24 cans he replies.

Put them back, we can't afford them demands the wife, and so they carry on shopping.

A few aisles further on along the wife picks up a $20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket.

What do you think you're doing? asks the husband.

It's my face cream. It makes me look beautiful, replies the wife.

Her husband retorts: So does 24 cans of Budweiser and it's half the price.

JOTD - Bertha and Betty

Two 90-year-old women, Bertha and Betty, had been friends all of their lives. When it was clear that Bertha was dying, Betty visited her every day.

One day Betty said, "Bertha, we both loved playing softball all our lives, and we played all through high school. Please do me one favor: when you get to heaven, somehow you must let me know if there's women's softball there."

Bertha looked up at Betty from her deathbed and said, "Betty, you've been my best friend for many years. If it's at all possible, I'll do this favor for you."

Shortly after that, Bertha died. A few nights later, Betty was awakened from a sound sleep by a blinding flash of white light and a voice calling out to her, "Betty, Betty.""Who is it," asked Betty, sitting up suddenly. "Who is it?"

"Betty -- it's me, Bertha."

"You're not Bertha. Bertha just died."

"I'm telling you, it's me, Bertha," insisted the voice.

"Bertha! Where are you?"

"In heaven," replied Bertha. "I have some really good news and a little bad news."

"Tell me the good news first," said Betty.

"The good news," Bertha said with joy and enthusiasm, "is that there's women's softball in heaven. Better yet, all of our old buddies who died before me are here,too. Even better than that, we're all young again. Better still, it's always Springtime and it never rains or snows. And best of all, we can play softball all we want, and we never get tired."

"That's fantastic," said Betty. "It's beyond my wildest dreams! So what's the bad news?"

"You're pitching Tuesday."

Playstation Network is Down

It's now day five of PSN being down and it's getting annoying. Sony stated that our credit cards numbers are not compromised, but the amount of online game play has gone to zero.

PSN was one of the featured that lured me to PS3 instead of the XBox. The best thing about PSN is that it is free which is a major advantage to Xbox which has a monthly service fee.

I know what you're saying "why complain since it's free"...

Sure PSN is free, but there are things on PSN that cost money. Netflix is a cool feature that I got as a add on to my PS3. With PSN, my on demand Netflix does not work, so this is costing me money... I know it's chump change in the grand scheme of things, but it is still my time and money.