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javajoe2003
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Name: joseph
Country: United States
State: Ohio
Metro: Cleveland
Birthday: 3/11/1981
Gender: Male
Interests: Jesus, my princess, politics, music, social justice, video games, fantasy sports, activism, food, beer, literature, good coffee, and trying to be a Renaissance man.
Expertise: education, politics, some computer stuff
Occupation: Education/training
Industry: Education/Research
Message: message me
Member Since:
10/16/2002
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| my thoughts on the Shaq tradewhen i heard about the trade for Shaq, i could barely contain myself, and it was all that i could do not to barge into the house and totally disrupt the girls' conversation. i had trouble getting to sleep last night and i was pumped to talk about it at work today.
however, very few people seemed that excited about it...and these were serious cavs fans too!
Here are my thoughts on the Shaq trade. Before I go any farther, let me state that I am a big Shaq fan. I loved him when he went to the Lakers, I cheered him on during the Laker dynasty years, and I lost most of my respect for Kobe Bryant when he broke up the Laker dynasty and chased Shaq outta town. I have some of Shaq's rap CD's and own many of his movies, including Kazaam and Steel. I've even read his book! Obviously, I may not be as objective as some people!
As a basketball fan, I love the trade. Shaq is a genuine, bonafide superstar who is going to only amplify the star power that LeBron already has brought to Cleveland. He'll attract other quality players to Cleveland as well.
As a Cavs fan, I LOVE THIS MOVE. Seriously, what is there not to like about it? We traded away a long-past-his-prime guy who has less offensive game than I do (Ben Wallace), a guy who couldn't string together a series of quality games to save his life (Sasha Pavlovic), a second round pick who might not even make the team, and cash for...a guy who was All-NBA Third Team last year, one of the top centers ever to play the game, and one of the biggest, most physically imposing players in the NBA in Shaq Diesel. I never, ever was really that crazy about the trades involving Wallace and it took a LOT of mental mind tricks to convince myself that it was a great trade. Putting a player on the floor who has no offensive game and is not an offensive threat puts a team at a 4-on-5 disadvantage and when you're going up against teams like the Celtics and Magic who can score points in bunches, that's a tremendous handicap. As far as Sasha, he wasn't consistent enough to get serious minutes on a team like the Cavs. When he got time in the playoffs this season, he struggled, and his biggest impact was being the first guy to grab LeBron after he hit his heroic game-winning shot in Game 2 against the Magic. I would MUCH rather lose him than Delonte West or even Wally, whose 3 point shooting is still a strong asset.
I've heard complaints about Shaq's big salary, which is funny to me, because I haven't had the privilege of speaking to Dan Gilbert about the move. Nor did I have the opportunity to talk with Danny Ferry about it either (although this one actually could have come true, because I saw him at a restaurant a few weeks back!). As long as you're not the one cutting the check or having to play games with the salary cap, I see no reason to complain. We are blessed with an owner like Gilbert who is willing to put his money where his mouth is and build a winner, and we should be grateful...it's a lot better than having owners like the Dolans, who are trying (and presently failing) to build a winning Indians franchise with a budget equvialent to the balance of my savings account.
I haven't heard this one today, but that's probably because I've been hearing it ever since Shaq was playin' on the west side with the Lakers: Shaq is an awful free throw shooter. Well, LeBron isn't that great either, would you like to get rid of him? Besides, Mike Brown is a smart coach, and he'll put Z (who's among the top 10 centers in free throw percentage) on the floor during close games.
While we're talking about Z, I would like to briefly digress to state that my admiration for Z grew for leaps and bounds today. Z's been with the Cavs through it all--several foot surgeries, the down years when Ricky Davis shot at the wrong basket to improve his rebounding stats and when one could purchase near-courtside seats for $10 outside the arena because demand was so low, and the rise and success that followed the fortuituous bounce of the ping pong ball in the 2003 NBA Draft Lottery that brought us LeBron James. He's been a starter and is considered to be one of the top 3 centers in the Eastern Conference. What did he do when the Cavs' management notified him that they were considering trading for Shaq? He agreed to relinquish his starting role and go to the bench. THAT'S a team player, folks.
Look, I'm a realist. We're not getting the Shaq who wore purple and gold for the Lakers, I realize that. Maybe we're not even getting the Shaq who lit up South Beach in 2006 to win the title with the Heat. However, we are getting a massive, imposing player who will at the very least play better D on Dwight Howard or Kevin Garnett than Joe Smith, Ben Wallace, Z, or any other forward on the roster could. If he can slow down quality centers to the point where we don't have to double-team and leave shooters open for 3 pointers, which I am fairly confident that he'll be able to do, the trade will be well worth it. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, Shaq is hungry and driven. He just saw Kobe emerge from his large shadow and win a title without him manning the middle, and you better believe that he wants to ensure that he gets his 5th NBA title before he retires. Hopefully, for all of us long-suffering fans who are desperate to live to see the Cavs win 1 NBA title, he will.
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| SHAQ TO THE CAVS!yes!! i never thought this day would come. and to celebrate, i'm putting up some shaq rap lyrics from his song "You Can't Stop The Reign"
You can't stop it, block it, when I drop it,
anytime I go rhyme for rhyme on a topic,
You ain't even fit to step in Shaq's arena,
I look into your mind and I see your shook demeanor,
In your eyes, why are you suprised,
no matter how you try, I'm fly as eliquie,
The new edition, is this the end of your last night,
in the day time you couldn't see me with a flashlight,
I crash flights on sights of my enemies,
I'm comin through, and then I bomb your whole vicinity,
why they actin fakin jacks, you're not a friend of me,
I peeped your card, you're not as hard as you pretend to be,
who wanna spark it, with the chocolate macademian,
hand clean to the cranium,
you know the name, Shaq aim to maintain,
money on the brain, can't stop the reign
You can't stop the reign,
when it starts to fall,
there's no one else to blame,
you can't unlock that door
7-0, towerin inferno,
invincible smooth individual,
who wanna test it, forgein or domestic,
no matter where you're from, I'm not the one you wanna mess wit',
original with this style, livin lavish,
private jets to let my shorty shop in Paris,
I'm not the average, I'm far from the norm,
It's Daddy Long, keepin' it warm, hitting them strong
GO CAVS!
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| yeah 2L!i finally got my last grade (Property) today! God saved the best for last...it was the best grade I received all year long! i honestly did not expect to do that well...the fact that our prof threw a word count on the exam with no advance notice whatsoever was a gigantic curveball (anyone who reads this knows that brevity is NOT my strong suit!) and the multiple choice questions were incredibly difficult and covered all of the material about which i was least confident. too bad this isn't one of the classes for which the school has a teaching assistant, because i would love to be a teaching assistant for this class! i probably did well because we talked about social justice-esque topics in the class and because the material had a lot of relevance to public interest law...people can whine and moan that she didn't teach the class for the bar exam, but i'm glad that she taught the class in a manner that equips us to help the less fortunate!
the other night, my mom asked me if my first year was what i thought it was going to be. i honestly didn't have much of an answer. i still don't, really. in some ways, it was exactly what i expected, but it was very different in other ways. i can say, though, that i am glad that i made the decision to go to law school, and that although there are other career paths (writer, chef, fantasy sports blogger) that i would love to do, i am excited about all of the opportunities that will be available in the future for me.
i am stoked for my classes next year!
Tax I: i know this might not sound fascinating, but i have not heard a bad word spoken about the prof who teaches it. she's testified in front of the Senate and she also has won a ton of awards for quality teaching.
Legal Response to Terrorism: this is going to be awesome, especially as the decisions regarding what to do with the Guantanamo detainees play out
Labor Law: every time i thought about dropping this so that i could have some evenings free, i thought about bruce springsteen's music. i thought about the hard working union men and women all around America who have been royally screwed by Republicans and how nothing makes me happier than to stick it to greedy, money-grubbing corporate executives who want to screw hard working union men and women and move jobs overseas, and i decided to take this class.
Immigration Law: sheila and i will be taking our first, and probably only, class together! the prof is very well known and i am excited.
Legal Writing-Family Law Drafting: this is very practical and the prof is a judge, and since judges are the folks whom one needs to impress with briefs, why not learn from one?
Constitutional Law: this is going to be great! the prof is awesome and i am very excited to talk about many of the issues that come up as part of the class.
so, that's that. Animal Law didn't make the cut this time around, which sucks because i would love to work for the HSUS if we wind up in DC next summer and this course would be very helpful. it's on monday night and i am not sure if there would be enough time to go from Immigration Law down to CSU for Animal Law. i would love to do stuff with puppy mills and to help prosecute people who think that it's okay to endanger the lives of poor, defenseless puppies in order to make a profit.
gotta go to bed so i can get up early tomorrow morning and put all of this legal knowledge to use!
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| workin' 9-5, it's the way to make a livin'posting has been really sporadic as of late. =( i'm thinking, again, about putting this on blogspot, because xanga is so 2000.
but anyway! the school year is over, thank God! finals went alright, some better than others, and being sick during most of them was a real bummer. fortunately, CSU has a great medical plan, and a visit to the clinic combined with a bottle of $3.99 amoxicillin fixed me up just fine. we headed up to niagara falls for a quick spontaneous getaway right after my final ended...we were going to wait a day, but then we checked the weather and decided that it was better to leave early, and it was, as usual, a lot of fun!
i started my summer job at The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland on the tuesday after finals ended. boy, this job is a gigantic blessing! the work is hard, the hours can be long, and i have to work on saturdays at times, but i have never had a job before that has given me as much satisfaction and enjoyment as this job does. my supervisors are extremely supportive and encouraging and i feel very comfortable with them. the work is interesting and i have already learned a TON. i have had the opportunity to do many fun things as part of this job too; i have already been to The City Club twice to hear very interesting speakers and i am scheduled to go again in the future. additionally, i attended the Cleveland-Marshall Alumni Luncheon at the Renaissance Hotel as well, which was great and made me feel much prouder about being a student at the school. my tax prof won an award, which makes me more excited for the fall because she seems like a very qualified and talented teacher.
of course, the cavs lost to the magic in a heartbreaking series. man, i took this loss much harder than any cavs loss in quite some time. it was a great season, though, and a few free agents and good moves by the cavs will get us the personnel to get to the finals (and win!) next year. the indians are sorta chugging along--i tune in every now and then, and it seems that they win when i do, so maybe i should tune in more often! of course, i am counting down the days until the browns' season and fantasy football begin...i am very optimistic and hopeful! just did my first official fantasy football mock draft today and was very pleased with the results, although drafting T.O. isn't something that i'm crazy about doing.
umm...i'm not one who thinks that being in the working world is better than school simply because one's evenings are free, because i believe that one's mind can get stagnant when they're not learning regularly, but it has been nice to be able to play some tennis and get through a good part of harry potter 6.
oh yeah! my car was hit from the rear when i was visiting 402's house last week. praise God that neither sheila nor i were in it though! the damage is pretty extensive, but the other party's insurance is picking up the tab, and hopefully all of the repairs will go well and get my car back to the condition in which it was before the accident. it was a pretty surreal experience--walking outside and seeing my car on a treelawn when it was originally parked on the street can really mess with your mind--but i'm grateful that i have a nice rental car (also paid for by the other party) and that nobody was hurt.
i think that's about all! oh yeah, if you're a Virginian, please vote for terry mcculiffe in the primary on tuesday, june 9th! i'll be making phone calls tomorrow night and tuesday, and i hope you can get out there and help elect a leader who will help Virginia continue to be a well-led and prosperous state!
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| memorial dayas i've gotten older, memorial day has become a lot more important to me.
both sides of my family have a rich history of proud military service. my grandpa on my mother's side fought in World War II and served as General MacArthur's chef in the Pacific. my dad has served in the Navy Reserve for many years and was called to duty in the first Gulf War and was supposed to go overseas twice but did not. my grandpa on my dad's side served in World War II, and many previous generations fought in earlier wars, such as The Civil War, as well. my stepmother's dad served in the military too.
i have thought long and hard about whether to pursue military service, and the fact that i will be the first in many generations not to serve (unless something changes drastically with my life's path or world history) weighs on me on days like Memorial Day. part of me tells myself that i am serving the country through my career path in public interest law, but another part of me reminds myself that there is no greater sacrifice than putting oneself in the place to lay down his life for his nation.
i've struggled, too, with how to balance celebrating and honoring our veterans with my beliefs that we shouldn't celebrate war and that wars should only be entered into as a last resort and that our nation should hold leaders accountable who do not send our sons and daughers into combat after exhausting all possible diplomatic alternatives. it was very hard for me to protest the war in Iraq in 2003 while my father was in a rather prominent military-related position because i did not want him to feel as if i disapproved of him personally even though i disapproved of the war. over time, i've come to realize that while it is important to ensure that military action is handled with gravitas and seriousness, it is also very important to not only make our troops feel as if the nation supports them and is hoping for their safe return home, but also to ensure that our nation provides our veterans with the resources that they need to re-adjust to civilian life through things such as providing adequate medical care, counseling, and education.
i called my dad and thanked him for his service today. it was the first time in 28 years that i've done that, and it's far too overdue. i hope to have the chance to visit my grandfather's grave as well; i haven't been there for many, many years. =( i hope that all of us in America are grateful for the sacrifices that people have made. our nation isn't perfect, but compared to the rest of the world, we have it very good and we are very blessed. social inequality does exist, but there are an army of programs and people who are ready and willing to fight a war against poverty and inequality here at home and make it possible for the poorest children to have the same chances at success as the richest children. we have religious freedom in America as well and nobody is forced to believe anything that violates their conscience. sure, Memorial Day is a nice day off and a chance to celebrate with friends, but i hope that in the midst of our celebrations and happiness, we all can take the time to remember the deeper meaning of the day.
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