Kyrie Irving-- The Best Point Guard in the NBA Today

It’s true, because, as of today, Derrick Rose is hurt.:) But seriously though, I have watched just about every minute of play this kid has gotten on the floor this year and he has made me jump off the couch more times than I can count. One thing Clevelanders know for certain is that, as a rookie, Kyrie Irving is already a better closer than Lebron was for his entire career in C-Town. How special is Kyrie? Only time will tell us the full story, but already he’s showing a precosiousness that is making the NBA stand up and take notice. Chris Paul you are offically on watch. Your time at the top of the point guard hierachy in the NBA is at an end. Since the trade of Ramon Sessions, Kyrie’s minutes are now on par with Paul's and in my fantasy league Kyire Irving is averaging 46/ppg as opposed to Paul's 42/ppg and this is one of Paul’s best stretches of basketball all year. Given this fact, it’s not hard to extrapolate the numbers and factor in the fact that Kyrie’s barely a rookie having played only a handful of college games at Duke. Stats are nice to have on hand, but they don't tell the whole story. It's the eyeball test that Kyrie passes in spades. He looks, acts and plays like the real deal and confidence is half the fight for an NBA Rookie.

There were times at the beginning of the season I felt Kyrie defered too much in the half court set, but now I understand why.Whether it's a natural thing or an intentional one Kyrie is a master of pacing and like a good movie, he starts out slow and comes to an emotionally crushing conclusion. His play in the fourth quarter of some games this year has been nothing short of astounding. His silky smooth ball handling is almost as marvelous as his uncanny knack to finish “soft” at the rim. (I can’trecall having seen him dunk this year).

Bottomline, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a superstar in their midst and already the sting of losing Lebron James is wearing off for Clevelanders. It has been replaced with a glimmer of hope that once the Miami Heat experiment fails, which I think it will. LBJ will return home like the prodigal son. A backcourt of Kyie Irving and Lebron James sound pretty damn sweet and would be a far better pairing than LBJ and DWade are right now. Their skill sets are too closely matched and don't necessarily compliment one another. One can only hope. One thing is for certain, Kyrie Irving will be the unanimous rookie of the year and has put hope back into the Cavalier organization. Keep on Kyrie, keep on.

Film Review: Senna

This one is not to be missed one of the most compelling sports documentaries ever made. Like the masterpiece Riding Giants, which turned coach potatoes eveywhere into surfing fans. Senna will turn you into a Formula one racing fan. Most of the subject matter in this film was enirely unknown to me which just seemed to add to the sense of wonder. The action sequences were jaw-dropping and the entire film was compiled from pre-existing footage which just added an authetic feel to it. It is certain that truth is stranger than fiction and you could not have written a stroy about F1 racing more emotional devasting then Seena.

Thank you for introducing me to Aryton Senna. I am sorry I missed his life.

Film Review: The Tree of Life

Terrance Malik is a wonderful director and it shows in this amazing looking film. It was nominated for best cinematography in this years Oscars and maybe should have even won the award. TTOL has recieved rave reviews from a number of different sources and this is reflected in a very high Rotten Tomatoes rating of 84 and an IMDB rating of 7.0. On the surface all things would seem right with the world, if this movie wasn't an absolute piece of garbage. I would expect most critics who loved this film to tell me I didn't understand it or what Malik was trying to do, but I did and I also read some stuff about it before viewing it so I could fake it if I wanted to, but it still sucked.
What's the worst thing about it? Well that easy. I was supposed to like it. I am supposed to be a person of refined taste, but I actually was annoyed with this film, almost angry because yes it was one of themost pretentious films I have ever seen. It had elements of brilliance to it and it's easy to see why some folks may find this to be an amazing film experience, But it took Malik 129 minutes of pure boredom to convey ther same thing the Beatless did in the song "In My Life" in 2:49 seconds.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478304/

Phish Summer Tour 2012: Chasing the Dragon

If you are one of those folks who likes to be sure they catch all the best shows of the tour. I have an uncanny knack of looking at the tour applying my knowledge of Phish with my understanding of how touring Jam bands work and come up with a list of shows where I predict they will play well or play poorly. I admit some of these are harder to predict than others, but for the most part. I am confident in my predictions. Let's take a closer look at the tour.

6/7/12 DCU Center, Worcester, MA -The first show of the tour is never the best one. However, this is inside in New England so it bodes well for a strong opener.

6/8/12 DCU Center, Worcester, MA--They should be comfy by now. Once again, INSIDE, in NE. It will rage this night.

6/15/12 Bader Field, Atlantic City, NJ--The few days break helps these, but I don't see any of these being among the strongest shows of the tour. The venue and city aren't among the best. But I admit these are as much a mystery to me as any on the tour

6/16/12 Bader Field, Atlantic City, NJ--Middle show of three day run this should be the strongest night of the run, but again see ablove

6/17/12 Bader Field, Atlantic City, NJ--Nope, but you never know

6/19/12 nTelos Pavilion, Portsmouth, VA--First of only two southern shows and Phish for some reason plays great down south. I'm guessing these will be great

6/20/12 nTelos Pavilion, Portsmouth, VA--see above

6/22/12 Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH--After a day off coming from what should be some strong shows and playing in one of their favorite cities and you know they say "Never miss a cincy show" This could be very well be the Dragon

6/23/12 First Niagara Pavilion, Burgettstown, PA--Momentum from Cincy will carry over into this very underratted venue

6/24/12 Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH--My hometown show, but this is a back to back to back. This does not bode well. I'm guessing there will be nothing left in the tank.

6/28/12 Klipsch Music Center, Noblesville, IN--the off time will be well needed, but not my favorite venue--these two nights are a crap shoot. I don't expect a whole lot here. I imagine they will have to restretch thier legs

6/29/12 Klipsch Music Center, Noblesville, IN--They should be looser now, but not back in top form

6/30/12 Alpine Valley Music Center, East Troy, WI--One of these two night will see one of the strongest nights of the tour. Great venue. Don't try and pick which one. Go to Both

7/1/12 Alpine Valley Music Center, East Troy, WI--see above

7/3/12 Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre, Wantagh, NY--Great Energy in NY, but I hear the venue is terrible. I'm guessing no on one or both of these

7/4/12 Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre, Wantagh, NY--see above

7/6/12 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY--It's SPAC. Lookout below! Go to all of them

7/7/12 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY--Middle show at SPAC, Duh! It should be one of the best nights on the tour and a chance at being the dragon.

7/8/12 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs,NY--Depends on how hot the previous two night were. they could be spent or they could feel good and throw it all out there.

My guesses on the top shows of the tour in chronological order

Night 2 DCU

Portsmouth

Cincy

PA

Alpine (one of the two)

SPAC #2

Note: these are soley based on my experience, opinion and analytic skill