Even though I am a casual NBA fan, it was cool to watch the Celtics thump the Lakers for the title last night. As a young lad in New England, the Celtics were my default team despite having what may be the ugliest logo in all of sports. The players weren't much better looking (Larry Bird has now been trying to grow a mustache for 48 years and yet, it remains as wispy and patchy as your average high school freshman). So I keep an eye on the Celtics, though my number one team (again by default via location) is now the Denver Nuggets; I go to 1-2 games a year and watch the games on TV when they are on. But it was good to see the Celtic green back on top, though I'm sure any good druid bristles at the mis-pronunciation of "Celtic" ("sell-tick" as opposed to the actual "kell-tick")Besides Boston being my former hometown team, it was great to watch the Lakers implode. My cousin Marc probably has more venom for Kobe Bryant than I do, but both of us hate a ball-hog and he's (Kobe, not Marc; he's only a ball-hog in Super Mario Strikers) the King of Swine when it comes to hoggin'. He's also a pretty rotten dude from most accounts, though hopefully just being a selfish and arrogant jerk are his worst qualities. You knew at some point he would go into "screw my team mates, you guys suck mode" and start putting up crazy shots and sure enough 7-22 shooting with 1 (!) assist marks one of the worst NBA finals performances in history. Plus I have to root for Uconn Alum Ray Allen (I remember watching his UConn games with my Mom when they were just getting good). And Kevin Garnett is a man who actually loves Minnesota so much, you might think he was a kind-hearted midwestern farmer if he wasn't 7 feet tall... and you know, playing basketball on TV.
Watching the blowout was a lift from my own games of Ultimate Frisbee last night. I had a pretty lousy night. I felt tight during both of our games and I dropped two passes, one being a simple drop (Keep in mind, I once went two FULL A-league seasons without a single drop). Bad passes, bad cuts and let's just say I was kind of like the Kobe of my team, minus being a huge jerk. But I did throw for more scores in our two games (5) than I did caught points (1).
Concluding the evening, I sat down with an old friend, 1943 for the NES. While it visually pales in comparison to its fantastic arcade counterpart, 1943 stands as perhaps the best shooter for the NES along with Lifeforce and Stinger. Like most shooters, this is a tough one to restart if you lose momentum. Thanks to a password system and the ability to power up your P-38 Lightning , it's almost like a "shooter RPG" of sorts. I was able to complete 21/23 stages before it started to get too late but replaying this classic, I was happy to see it was every bit as fun as I remember. Unlike modern shooters that overwhelm you from the get-go (Einhander being a notable exception), 1943 forces you to be more strategic as speedy planes attack from the top of the screen while tough, lumbering bombers crawl from the lower half. Boss battles are epic and can be tricky at times, especially when you get the "false ending" from the stage 15 and 16 bosses. Hopefully I'll knock this one off tonight and add it to my NES Completion List.
So those are the fun and games of the day. Today should be some mountain biking and if I'm lucky, Sheila might come into town with Mystic for a romp.
