No way? Yes way!

I wasn't THAT suprised to see this person (someone I actually know) pose nude for a local mag. Still, it was quite unexpected to say the least.

Must be the money?

No mo' Ne-Yo

I still can't believe I'm skipping Ne-Yo tonight. Actually, I could've gone, and I can still go. But I don't want to push it.

It sucks though knowing that while a lot of people will be humming to 'Sexy Love', I'll be shooting hoops at Moro.

Tangina. What a tradeoff.

6th ink and more

I finally had the time to finish my 6th tattoo last Sunday. It's been more than a month since I had it started on. Not to be outdone, I left the artist's place with my 7th.

Yeah baby!

Tennessee takes down Memphis

The Tennessee Volunteers showed poise down the stretch to hold off their instate rivals Memphis, 68-64. The second-ranked Vols (25-2) are expected to take the top ranking with them when the latest polls are released tomorrow.

With the loss, formerly undefeated Memphis (26-1) should go down a notch or two. There is a chance streaking third-ranked North Carolina will move up to second.

(1)Memphis vs. (2)Tennessee

All roads lead to the state of Tennessee as instate rivals, number one Memphis and number two Tennessee meet in a highly-anticipated matchup at the FedEx Forum.

It should provide an interesting backdrop to a crazy, fun-filled NCAA season. Who would've thought the state of Tennessee would be the center of college basketball come February?!

The Memphis Tigers (26-0, 12-0 C-USA) will try to remain unbeaten and keep their top ranking. While Tennessee Vols ( 24-3, 11-1 SEC) will try to prove they can hang with the best.

NBA Trades; Cavs beat the buzzer

We've had quite a number of blockbuster trades, especially out in the West. We've seen three West superpowers enhance their lineup by adding veteran All-Stars.

The whole frenzy started with the Lake Show trading for disgruntled Memphis big man Pau Gasol. Having been beaten twice by a then less-talented Lakers team before, Phoenix upgraded their frontline by bringing in an aging-but-can-still-be-dominant Shaq from Miami. An Amare-Shaq frontline can be scary. Not to be outdone, Dallas made a move for New Jersey's triple-double machine Jason Kidd.

All these should provide for an exciting last few months in the NBA.

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With the trade deadline looming, Cleveland barely beat the buzzer with a late-breaking trade. Cavs GM Danny Ferry has just given Lebron the supporting cast he's been lobbying for. In a huge 11-player, 3 team deal, the Cavaliers landed All-Star center Ben Wallace and veteran forward Joe Smith from the Bulls, and Wally Sczcerbiak and Delonte West from Seattle. They gave up six players to complete the deal.

I still don't think the new-look Cavs have what it takes to take the East, but they should provide a tough challenge to league-leading Boston and perennial East powerhouse Detroit.

I love fairytale endings, so I'm still going with the the resurgent boys from Beantown.

More Mickey D's for North Carolina

The 2008 McDonald's High School All-American game is raining Carolina Blue. The entire three-man 2008 signing class of the Tar Heels were named to the annual all-star game.

Pos. Name (home state)

C Tyler Zeller (Indiana)
PF Ed Davis (Virginia)
PG Larry Drew (California)

With the addition of the three, North Carolina now boasts of 53 McDonald's All-Americans since its inception in 1977. It's the most of any school.

(3)UNC over NC State; (5)Duke loses again

Chalk up another convincing blowout victory for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. They completed a season sweep of the NC State Wolfpack with a 84-70 road victory.

All-American junior Tyler Hansbrough led the charge for North Carolina (25-2, 10-2 ACC) with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 5 steals.

With Miami stunning fifth-ranked Duke, the Tar Heels are back atop the ACC standings. UNC and Duke share the conference lead with similar 10-2 ACC records. They will still meet in a highly-anticipated season-ending matchup at Durham in two weeks.

Please police your YM stat

I've seen the dumbest, poorly constructed YM status messages lately. I wish I could name names, but proper net etiquette tells me not to.

They're so stupid, it annoys the shit out of me. This is one of the few reasons why I don't like YM. I see grammatically incorrect status messages.

UNC climbs two places in latest polls

Latest US NCAA Men's Basketball rankings (as of February 19, 2008)

AP Top 5

Team (Record, last week's rank)

1. Memphis (25-0; 1)
2. Tennessee (23-2; 4)
3. North Carolina (24-2; 5)
4. Kansas (24-2; 3)
5. Duke (22-2; 2)

ESPN Top 5

Team (Last week)

1. Memphis (1)
2. Tennessee (4)
3. North Carolina (5)
4. Duke (2)
5. Kansas (3)

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As expected, North Carolina gains while Duke drops. I'm hoping UNC continues to carry on despite numerous injuries so they can secure a number one seed coming into March Madness.

Revenge, retribution, redemption

You wanna see revenge at its finest?

Suggest you watch the 2002 film version of Alexandre Dumas' famed book, "The Count of Monte Cristo."

Surprising fantasy

Well, what do you know.... I just took over the top spot in the IBS Yahoo fantasy league. Judging from the bad start I had, this is a pleasant surprise.

There's still a long way to go, but I hope I can keep up.

UNC over VTech; Duke loses to Wake

After a series of close encounters, fifth-ranked North Carolina quickly dominated Virginia Tech at home, 92-53. The Tar Heels were playing their fourth straight game without sophomore stud Tywon Lawson.

UNC (24-2, 9-2 ACC) led from start to finish, shooting 50% from the field while outrebounding the Hokies, 54-24.

National Player of the Year candidate Tyler Hansbrough paced North Carolina with 23 points.

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Wake Forest scored a monumental upset at home, beating second-ranked Duke, 86-73. The loss would most likely bring down the Blue Devils (22-2, 10-1 ACC) off of their number two ranking when the latest polls come out tomorrow.

Duke (10-1) still leads the ACC, with North Carolina just a game behind (9-2)

Puzzling?

For once, I don't know whether I should be happy or annoyed for being overqualified.

Work email downtime

It's been five days already and they can't seem to get my Lotus Notes email fixed. Damn. Just when I'm expecting an important email.

I hope this gets ironed soon. Absolutely need to read that email.

Kidd to Dallas trade blocked!

With the trade deadline looming, the Dallas Mavericks are trying to make a blockbuster trade for former Maverick and triple-double machine Jason Kidd. An agreement has virtually been reached between Dallas and New Jersey but some scrub named Devean George blocked the trade from falling through. Apparently, he has the Early Bird rights which give players something similar to a no-trade clause (only Kobe has an active no-trade clause on his NBA contract).

What the fuck was Devean George thinking? He ain't no superstar. Dallas owner could get back at the scrub for fucking this trade up.

A lot of suggestions have been discussed in various internet forums, among them are:

- Deactivate him for the rest of the season. That means no playing time.
- Cut/waive him, but they still have to pay him his guaranteed salary.
- Send the fucker down to the D-League.

I think Cuban and the Mavericks front office should get some pretty neat revenge by doing the third option. Sending an NBA veteran to the D-League is probably the worst punishment a pro player can get. No more private jets, hotel suites, and the works and perks of an NBA player. Instead, dude's gonna travel via commercial flights and Greyhound buses.

That'll teach him a lesson.

(5)North Carolina 75, Virginia 74

In another surprisingly close game, North Carolina just edged spirited Virginia, 75-74, on the road. With their respective seasons going the opposite way, Virginia wasn't expected to keep it close.

Undoubtedly playing their best game of late, the Cavaliers just couldn't go over the hump at the endgame. They've lost 9 out of their last 10 games, and are at the bottom of the ACC standings with a 1-9 record.

Fifth-ranked North Carolina (23-2, 8-2 ACC) showed resiliency under a hostile environment, making key shots down the stretch.

All-American Tyler Hansbrough topscored for the Heels with 23 points, including a critical shotput-type baby hook with 21 seconds left.

North Carolina drops to 5th spot

The latest rankings are out and I'm not surprised the Tar Heels drop to number 5 on both the AP and ESPN polls, with the loss to second-ranked Duke last week. Duke remains number 2 this week.

(3)Kansas just lost to (11)Texas, so that should bring them down on next week's polls. Memphis holds on to their unanimous top-ranking, while (4)Tennessee rounds off the top five.

(3)UNC rallies against Clemson

North Carolina staged a mammoth comeback as they downed upset-minded Clemson, 103-93 in double overtime.

Being outplayed for most of the game, the Tar Heels displayed maturity and composure down the stretch to send the game in overtime tied at 82-all. They methodically erased the Tigers' 11-point lead in the final 3 minutes of regulation.

With the win, North Carolina (22-2, 7-2 ACC) set the NCAA record for consecutive home wins against one opponent (53 straight). Previous record was 52, set by Princeton against Brown from 1929-2002.

Clemson, who lost another OT thriller at home against Carolina on a Wayne Ellington buzzer-beater last month, drops to 17-6, 5-4 in ACC play.

All-American junior Tyler Hansbrough led the Heels with 39 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore stud Wayne Ellington added 28 points. The Heels were without star playmaker Tywon Lawson for the second consecutive game due to a sprained ankle.

Gimme some retail therapy

How do you deal with being bad vibes for much of the weekend?

You go and buy yourself a watch.

It sure helped me feel a little bit better.